I 


LIBRARY 

OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

ClMS 


DE  WITT   CLINTON 
First  President  of  the  Free  School  Society 


COPYRIGHT,   1905, 
BY  THE   MACMILLAN    COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.    Published  February,  1905. 


Typography  by  J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co. 
Presswork  by  Berwick  &  Smith  Company. 

Binding  by  E.  Fleming  &  Co. 

Binding  by  The  J.  C.  Valentine  Co. 

Paper  by  W.  F.  Etherington  &  Co. 

Photo-Engraving  by  The  National  Photo-Engraving  Co. 


TO  THE 

BOARD   OF   EDUCATION 

AND  THE 

TEACHERS    OF    THE    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS 

OF 

THE   CITY   OF  NEW   YORK 


GENERAL 

'ftlt.C 


PREFACE 

THE  celebration  of  the  centenary  of  the  inauguration  (on 
February  19,  1805)  of  the  movement  for  free  public  schools 
in  this  city  was  suggested  to  the  Board  of  Education  in  the 
spring  of  1904,  and,  later,  the  preparation  of  a  history  of  public 
education  in  New  York.  The  Board  unanimously  approved 
both  suggestions,  and  granted  me  a  leave  of  absence  for  the 
purpose  ,of  writing  this  book.  Although  the  time  has  been, 
of  necessity,  limited,  no  reasonable  pains  have  been  spared  to 
secure  accuracy.  From  the  literary  point  of  view  this  work 
makes  no  claim  upon  the  reader.  It  is  put  forth  as  a  fairly 
complete  chronicle  —  a  chronicle  rather  than  a  philosophic  his- 
tory —  of  educational  events  in  the  city  during  the  past  one 
hundred  years. 

To  fill  out  the  record,  a  preliminary  chapter,  relating  to 
schools  on  Manhattan  Island  prior  to  1805,  precedes  the  his- 
tory of  the  century  now  closing ;  and  accounts  of  early  schools 
in  other  parts  of  the  city  are  also  given. 

No  apology  is  needed  for  the  amount  of  space  devoted  to 
the  Public  School  Society  —  a  movement  unique  and  of  rare 
interest. 

That  the  chapters  which  follow  are  free  from  error  I  do  not 
venture  to  hope.  On  pages  xxi  and  xxii  will  be  found  a  list 
of  authorities  consulted  in  the  preparation  of  this  history;  but 
no  mention  is  made  therein  of  the  written  and  printed  minutes, 
documents,  reports,  manuals,  etc.,  of  the  Public  School  Society, 
the  New  York  Board  of  Education,  and  the  Brooklyn  Board  of 
Education,  which  have  been  read,  or  of  the  newspaper  files  ex- 
amined. Every  citation  has  been  carefully  verified ;  and  where 
conflicting  statements  have  been  made  by  previous  writers  the 
reader  is  put  in  possession  of  them  all. 


viii  Preface 

I  have  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness,  first,  to  those  who 
have  already  traversed  the  same  field  in  part.  The  compre- 
hensive History  of  the  Public  School  Society,  by  Mr.  William 
Oland  Bourne,  has  been  invaluable;  and  use  has  been  freely 
made  of  Pttblic  Education  in  the  City  of  New  York,  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Boese",  formerly  Clerk  of  the  Board  of  Education. 
Thanks  are  due  to  those  who  have  materially  aided  me  in 
various  ways;  in  particular,  to  Mr.  Robert  H.  Kelby,  Libra- 
rian of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  who  afforded  me  the 
fullest  opportunity  for  consulting  the  manuscript  records  of 
the  Public  School  Society;  to  Miss  Emma  Toedteberg,  Libra- 
rian of  the  Long  Island  Historical  Society;  and  to  a  number 
of  officials  and  employes  of  the  Department  of  Education  who 
have  rendered  valued  assistance.  I  wish  also  to  record  my 
appreciation  of  the  kindness  of  the  Board  of  Education  in 
granting  me  the  privilege  of  engaging  in  a  work  which  has 
grown  increasingly  interesting  and  the  result  of  which  I  trust 
will  not  prove  unworthy. 

It  is  a  source  of  peculiar  gratification  that  Mr.  Seth  Low 
has  consented  to  write  the  Introduction  to  this  book.  His 
eminent  qualifications  for  doing  so  need  not  be  specified  here ; 
but  it  may,  perhaps,  be  mentioned  that  his  grandfather  (bear- 
ing the  same  name)  was  a  member  of  the  Brooklyn  Board 
of  Education  in  1846-1847;  that,  while  Mayor  of  Brooklyn 
(1882-1885),  he  appointed  nearly  eighty  members  of  the  Board 
of  Education  of  that  city ;  that,  as  a  member  of  the  Commis- 
sion which  framed  the  Greater  New  York  Charter,  he  was 
Chairman  of  the  Committee  which  prepared  the  chapter  on 
Education ;  and  that  in  1902,  as  Mayor  of  The  City  of  New 
York,  he  appointed  the  entire  Board  of  Education  of  forty-six 
members  provided  for  by  the  Revised  Charter. 

A.  E.  P. 

NEW  YORK, 

December  30,  1904. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

ILLUSTRATIONS xix 

BIBLIOGRAPHY xxi 

INTRODUCTION xxiii 

CHAPTER   I 

INTRODUCTORY  —  SCHOOLS  PRIOR  TO  1805 i 

Schools  under  the  rule  of  the  Dutch  —  Schools  during  the  British  colonial 
regime  —  Schools  after  the  Revolutionary  War. 

CHAPTER   II 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY 16 

Beginning  of  the  movement  for  the  establishment  of  free  schools  —  Meet- 
ing of  public-spirited  citizens  —  Memorial  to  the  Legislature  —  Act 
passed  incorporating  the  Society  —  The  original  subscription  list. 

CHAPTER   III 

THE  FREE  SCHOOL  SOCIETY'S  FIRST  SCHOOL  OPENED      ...      24 
Established  in  Bancker   (now  Madison)   street  —  Some  account  of  the 
Lancasterian  system  —  Lots  presented  by  Colonel  Rutgers  —  Aid  from 
the  Legislature  and  the  city  —  The  school  removed  to  new  quarters. 

CHAPTER   IV 

THREE  MORE  SCHOOLS  ESTABLISHED 32 

Change  in  the  name  of  the  Society  —  New  building  for  No.  I  — Gift  from 
Trinity  Church —  Religious  training  —  Apportionment  of  the  Common 
School  Fund  —  Important  action  by  the  Legislature — Opening  of  schools 
Nos.  2,  3,  and  4. 

ix 


Contents 


CHAPTER  V 

PAGE 

A  TEACHER  IMPORTED  FROM  ENGLAND 40 

Mr.  Pickton  takes  charge  of  No.  4  —  Another  appeal  to  the  Legislature 

—  Vacations  granted  —  Mr.  Lancaster  in  this  country  —  An  address  to 
parents  and  guardians  —  Overcrowding  in  No.  4  —  An  additional  tax 
proposed. 

CHAPTER   VI 

CONTROVERSY  WITH  THE  BETHEL  BAPTIST  CHURCH  ....      47 
Church  schools  invading  the  field  of  the  Society  —  No.  5  opened  —  Diver- 
sion of  the  Common  School  Fund  opposed  —  Appeals  to  the  Legislature 

—  The  Society's  course  upheld  by  the  Common  Council  —  Conditions  in 
the  Baptist  church  schools  —  Management  of  the  school  fund  transferred 
to  the  Common  Council. 


CHAPTER  VII 

PLANS  FOR  EXTENDING  THE  SOCIETY'S  WORK 

Action  of  the  Common  Council  on  the  school  fund  —  No.  6  opened  at 
Bellevue — The  visit  of  General  La  Fayette  —  The  first  evening  schools 

—  The  question  of  corporal  punishment  —  Rewards  to  pupils  for  writing 
and  needlework. 

CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY  — THE  PAY  SYSTEM   . 

New  charter  secured  —  A  "  moderate  compensation"  to  be  paid  by  pupils 

—  Great  hopes  of  the  new  regime  —  Creation  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee —  Schools  Nos.  9,  10,  and  1 1  opened  —  Hopes  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment—  The  pay  system  abolished. 

CHAPTER  IX 

THE  SOCIETY'S  RESOURCES  INCREASED 

Death  of  De  Witt  Clinton  —  Important  address  outlining  the  plans  of  the 
Society  and  proposing  an  increased  tax  for  school  purposes  —  Petitions 
to  the  Legislature  —  One-fourth  of  the  tax  suggested  allowed  —  Infant 
schools  and  primary  departments  —  Receipts  from  lottery  licenses  — 
Samuel  W.  Seton  appointed  "visitor"  and  "agent." 


Contents  xi 


CHAPTER  X 

PAGE 

ANOTHER  RELIGIOUS  CONTROVERSY 86 

Roman  Catholic  Orphan  Asylum  secures  a  share  of  the  school  fund  —  Ap- 
plication of  a  Methodist  school  unsuccessful  —  Plans  for  improving  and 
multiplying  the  schools  —  Many  primary  schools  proposed — The  ques- 
tion of  vagrancy  —  Action  by  the  Common  Council —  Recommendations 
of  a  committee  on  reorganization  —  Changes  in  the  monitorial  system 

—  School  No.  12  opened. 

CHAPTER  XI 

EVENING  SCHOOLS  ORGANIZED 88 

The  experiment  not  a  success —  Schools  of  the  Manumission  Society  trans- 
ferred—  Normal  schools  started  —  Tariff  of  salaries  in  1836  —  The  first 
superintendent  of  repairs  —  New  building  for  No.  I — Trustees'  Hall 
erected  —  Death  of  Joseph  Lancaster  —  Schools  Nos.  13,  14,  15,  and  16 
started. 

CHAPTER  XII 

THE  CONTROVERSY  OF  1840 94 

Governor  Seward's  message  —  Petition  of  trustees  of  Roman  Catholic 
schools  —  Remonstrances  from  the  Public  School  Society  —  Petitions 
denied  by  the  Board  of  Assistant  Aldermen  —  Expurgation  of  objec- 
tionable passages  in  school  books  —  The  application  renewed  —  Impor- 
tant hearing  before  the  Board  of  Aldermen  —  The  vote  in  that  body 
15  to  I. 

CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  ESTABLISHED 101 

Vigorous  campaign  organized  on  behalf  of  the  Catholics  —  Important 
report  by  State  Superintendent  Spencer  —  Action  postponed  until  1842 

—  A  vital  issue  in  the  campaign  —  Governor  Seward's  treatment  of  the 
subject  —  A  bill  passed  creating  the  Board  of  Education  —  Apprehen- 
sions of  the  Public  School  Society  —  Opening  of  School  No.  17. 

CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  Two  SYSTEMS  SIDE  BY  SIDE 109 

Difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  Board  —  Amendments  to  the  act  of  1842  — 
Progress  in  establishing  district  schools  —  The  monitorial  system  not 
employed  —  Charges  of  extravagance  —  Work  of  the  Society  continued 


xii  Contents 

PAGE 

in  spite  of  embarrassments  —  School  No.  18  established — Right  to 
build  additional  schoolhouses  questioned  —  The  Society  at  the  mercy  of 
the  Board. 

CHAPTER  XV 
THE  Two  SYSTEMS  CONSOLIDATED     .  • 115 

Objections  to  the  double  system  —  The  Society's  applications  to  the  Board 
for  funds  —  Committees  of  conference  appointed  —  Conditions  of  transfer 
—  A  bill  finally  enacted  —  Value  of  the  Society's  property  —  Fifteen 
members  of  the  Society  become  members  of  the  Board. 

CHAPTER   XVI 
GREAT  WORK  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY        .        .        .        .126 

Unselfishness  and  devotion  of  its  Trustees  —  Tribute  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation—  Cordial  praise  by  Mr.  Bourne,  Mr.  Boese,  and  Mr.  Randall  — 
Andrew  S.  Draper's  comments  on  the  influence  of  the  Society. 

CHAPTER  XVII 

FIRST  DECADE  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 132 

How  its  first  school  was  started  —  Growth  of  the  system  —  Change  in  the    ^ 
character  of  the  buildings — Establishment  of  evening  schools  —  FoundaV 
tion  of  the  Free  Academy  —  Questions  as  to  uniformity  in  salaries  and 
supplies  —  Learning  a  lesson  from  the  Public  School  Society. 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION— 1853  TO  1860 140 

The  Society's  schools  retain  their  original  numbers  —  Composition  of  the 
Board  —  Statistics  for  1853  —  The  normal  schools  —  The  school  law  of 
1851  — The  first  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  —  Course  of  instruction 
in  1853  — Attempt  to  provide  a  uniform  schedule  of  salaries  —  Corporal 
punishment. 

CHAPTER   XIX 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1860  TO  1870 152 

Two  important  laws  relative  to  the  schools  —  Seven  school  districts  laid 
out  in  1864  —  Radical  legislation  attempted  in  1867  —  A  Board  of 
twelve  members,  appointed  by  the  Mayor,  in  1869  —  Salaries  increased 
during  and  after  the  war  —  Evening  schools  reorganized  —  First  evening  - 
high  school  —  An  advanced  school  for  girls  established  which  became 
the  Normal  College. 


Contents  xiii 

CHAPTER  XX 

PAGE  ' 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION— 1870  TO  1880 163 

Two  more  important  laws  —  The  Department  of  Public  Instruction  estab- 
lished in  1871 — Another  change  in  1873  and  a  Board  of  twenty-one 
provided — Schools  in  the  annexed  district — First  Compulsory  Educa- 
tion Law  —  The  Nautical  School  —  Corporal  punishment  prohibited  — 
Changes  in  the  course  of  study. 

CHAPTER  XXI 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1880  TO  1890 174 

A  peaceful  decade  —  Free  lectures  for  working  men  and  women  provided 
—  Bonds  issued  for  school  buildings  and  sites  —  Three  more  evening 
high  schools  —  Colored  schools  disestablished  —  Women  on  the  Board 
of  Education  —  More  about  salaries  —  Teachers'  tenure  of  office. 

CHAPTER  XXII 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1890  TO  1897 184 

Extensive  changes  in  1896  —  The  ward  trustees  abolished  —  Board  of 
Superintendents,  with  large  powers,  created  —  School  inspectors  —  High 
schools  established  —  Large  bond  issues  authorized  —  A  new  era  in 
school  architecture  —  Roof  playgrounds  —  Provision  for  the  retirement 
of  teachers  on  pension  —  Kindergartens  organized. 

CHAPTER  XXIII 

BROOKLYN —'SCHOOLS  BEFORE  1843 *98 

The  first  school  doubtless  in  Flatbush  —  A  school  in  Brooklyn  in  1661  — 
Schools  in  Bushwick,  Bedford,  Flatlands,  Gravesend,  New  Lots,  and 
Williamsburgh  —  Other  schools  started. 

CHAPTER  XXIV 

BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  —  ORGANIZATION   ....    207 

Members  appointed  by  the  Common  Council  —  Increased  to  thirty-three 
in  1850  and  to  forty-five  in  1855  —  A  City  Superintendent  appointed, 
who  was  also  Secretary  —  Terms  of  members  —  The  headquarters 
building  —  Attempt  at  reorganization. 


xiv  Contents 

CHAPTER   XXV 

PAGE 

BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION— 1843  TO  1854     .        .        .        .213 
School  statistics  in  the  early  years  —  The  first  course  of  instruction  —  Dis- 
trict committees  —  Evening  schools  —  A  depot  for  books  and  supplies 

—  Free  books  in  Williamsburgh. 

CHAPTER  XXVI 

BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1855  TO  1875    •        •        •        .220 
Consolidation  of  Williamsburgh  and  Bushwick  with  Brooklyn  —  Saturday 
Normal  School  —  An  Assistant  Superintendent  appointed  —  A  uniform 
course  of  study  adopted  in  1866  — Classification  of  schools  —  Evening 
school  sessions  —  Free  text -books  for  one  year. 

CHAPTER  XXVII 

BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  — 1876  TO  1897     ....    226 
Expansion  of  the  system  —  Annexation  of  the  county  towns  —  Enforcing 
the  Compulsory  Education  Law  —  Attendance  schools  —  Truant  School 

—  Free  text-books  adopted  in  1884  —  Teachers'  Retirement  Fund  —  A 
new  course  of  study  —  Kindergartens  —  Music,  drawing,  and  sewing. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII 

BROOKLYN— HIGH  SCHOOLS  AND  TRAINING  SCHOOL  .  .  .  237 
Early  efforts  in  the  direction  of  secondary  education  —  Supplementary 
classes  —  A  Central  Grammar  School  organized  in  1878  —  Its  evolution 
into  the  Girls'  High  School  and  the  Boys'  High  School  —  The  Manual 
Training  High  School  —  Erasmus  Hall  Academy  taken  over  —  The 
Training  School  for  Teachers. 

CHAPTER  XXIX 

FEATURES  OF  THE  BROOKLYN  SYSTEM 243 

The  local  committee  plan  —  Overcrowding,  and  measures  to  prevent  it  — 
Half-day  classes  —  Corporal  punishment  permitted  —  Changes  in  teach- 
ers' salaries  —  Secretary  Stuart's  defalcation. 


Contents  xv 


CHAPTER  XXX 

PAGE 

THE  BOROUGH  OF  QUEENS 253 

The  earliest  schools  in  Newtown  —  The  "Old  Fourth  Ward  School"  —  A 
Board  of  Education  for  Long  Island  City  —  Schools  in  Flushing  and 
Jamaica  —  The  Rushing  High  School. 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

THE  BOROUGH  OF  THE  BRONX 262 

Towns  of  Westchester  County  annexed  to  New  York  —  Schools  at  an  early 
date  in  Westchester  and  Eastchester  —  Work  of  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  —  Schools  under  the  State  government. 


CHAPTER   XXXII 

THE  BOROUGH  OF  RICHMOND 267 

Meagre  records  of  the  early  schools  —  The  school  at  New  Springville  — 
Reports  of  pioneer  schoolmasters  —  Schools  under  the  State  —  The 
district  school  system. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

THE  CONSOLIDATION  OF  1898 272 

Four  Borough  School  Boards  and  a  Central  Board  of  Education — The 
Board  of  Examiners  —  Eligible  lists  of  teachers  —  Limited  powers  of 
the  City  Superintendent  —  Powers  of  the  School  Boards  —  Amendments 
to  the  Charter  —  Use  of  school  buildings  for  recreation  —  The  Ahearn 
Law  —  The  Davis  Law — The  Board  of  Education  in  control  of  its  own 
funds. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV 

THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK  — 1898  TO  1901 284 

School  organizations  in  the  several  Boroughs  —  Establishing  the  new  sys- 
tem —  Funds  for  increasing  school  accommodations  —  High  school*' 
buildings  —  Two  more  high  schools  in  Brooklyn  —  Vacation  schools, 
playgrounds,  and  recreation  centres  —  Free  lectures  and  other  features 
—  New  Hall  of  the  Board  —  Last  of  the  colored  schools. 


xvi  Contents 


CHAPTER  XXXV 

PAGE 

THE  REVISED  CHARTER  OF  1901  298 

Drawbacks  of  the  compromise  system — Borough  School  Boards  abolished 

—  Local   School   Boards   provided  —  An  Executive  Committee  of  the 
Board  of  Education  —  The  Board  of  Superintendents  and  its  powers  — 
District  Superintendents  —  Control  of  funds  taken  from  the  Board  — 
Children  under  six  admitted  only  to  kindergartens. 

CHAPTER   XXXVI 

THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK— 1902  TO  1904  .        .  .        .        .    303 

The  new  plan  quickly  put  in  running  order  —  Large  sums  for  school 
buildings  and  sites  —  Part-time  classes  —  A  new  course  of  study  for 
elementary  schools  —  Courses  for  the  high  schools  —  Expansion  of  high 
school  work  —  The  training  school  course  extended  —  Development 
of  various  school  activities  —  Changes  in  the  Compulsory  Education  Law 

—  Legal  decisions. 

CHAPTER  XXXVII 

THE  COLLEGE  OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 320 

Origin  of  the  Free  Academy  —  The  institution  opposed  by  Horace  Greeley 

—  Made  a  college  in  1866  —  Courses  of  instruction  —  A  separate  Board 
of  Trustees  provided  in  1900  —  New  buildings  for  the  College. 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

THE  NORMAL  COLLEGE 327 

Developed  from  the  Female  Normal  and  High  School  —  The  College 
building  —  Extending  the  course  of  study  —  Recent  changes  and 
improvements. 

CHAPTER  XXXIX 

SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 332 

Libraries  in  the  Free  School  Society's  schools  —  What  was  done  under 
the  law  of  1838  —  Libraries  in  Brooklyn  —  Classroom  libraries. 

CHAPTER  XL 

PERSONAL  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL 336 

Brief  sketches  of  the  presidents  of  the  Public  School  Society,  the  New 
York  Board  of  Education,  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education,  and  the 
Board  of  Education  of  Greater  New  York. 


Contents  xvii 

APPENDICES 

PAGE 

I.  CONTRACT  WITH  A  DUTCH  SCHOOLMASTER,  FLATBUSH,  1682   .  369 

II.  COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS        .        .        .  371 

III.  COURSES  OF  STUDY  FOR  HIGH  SCHOOLS 393 

IV.  COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR  TRAINING  SCHOOLS      ....  401 
V.    SALARY  SCHEDULES  403 

VI.    ALPHABETICAL  LISTS  OF  MEMBERS  OF  THE  BOARDS  OF  EDU- 
CATION AND  BOROUGH  SCHOOL  BOARDS      .       .        .       .419 

INDEX 435 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

De  Witt  Clinton Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

Facsimile  of  Page  in  Free  School  Society's  Subscription  Book  .  .  22 
Free  School  Society's  First  Schoolhouse  and  Model  School  Building  of 

the  Public  School  Society 34 

Presidents  of  the  Public  School  Society 72 

Early  Presidents  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Education  .  .  .132 
Later  Presidents  of  the  New  York  Board  of  Education  .  .  .  .164 
A  Group  of  Presidents  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  .  .  .  206 

Two  Types  of  Brooklyn  School  Buildings 244 

Evolution  of  a  Schoolhouse  —  Borough  of  Queens         ....     258 

Morris  High  School  —  Borough  of  The  Bronx 266 

De  Witt  Clinton  High  School  and  Public  School  62  — Manhattan          .     280 

Kindergarten  on  a  Recreation  Pier 296 

Audience  at  a  Free  Lecture  —  Hall  of  the  Board  of  Education       .         .312 

Scene  in  a  Vacation  Playground  —  Manhattan 330 

Class  in  a  Vacation  School  making  Baskets 348 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  Normal  College   ....    360 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


History  of  the  Public  School  Society  of  the  City  of  New  York,  William 
Oland  Bourne,  New  York,  1873. 

Public  Education  in  the  City  of  New  York :  its  History,  Condition,  and 
Statistics,  Thomas  Boese',  New  York,  1869. 

History  of  the  School  of  the  Reformed  Protestant  Dutch  Church  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  from  1633  to  the  Present  Time,  Henry  Webb  Dunshee, 
New  York,  1853. 

An  Account  of  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Free  School  Society,  New 
York,  1814. 

A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Public  School  Society  (printed 
in  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Society  for  1842,  and  reprinted,  with  additions, 
in  the  Annual  Report  for  1848). 

History  of  New  Netherland,  Edward  B.  CTCallaghan,  New  York,  1846. 

Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York 
(Holland  Documents),  Albany,  N.Y.,  1856. 

The  Records  of  New  Amsterdam,  New  York,  1897. 

History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  John  Romeyn  Brodhead,  New  York, 
1859. 

History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  S.  S.  Randall,  New  York,  1870. 

History  of  the  Common  School  System  of  the  State  of  New  York,  S.  S. 
Randall,  New  York,  1871. 

History  of  the  City  of  New  York,  Mrs.  Martha  J.  Lamb,  New  York,  1877- 
1881. 

The  Memorial  History  of  the  City  of  New  York,  edited  by  James  Grant 
Wilson,  New  York,  1893. 

History  of  New  York  City,  Benson  J.  Lossing,  New  York,  1885. 

Historic  New  York  (Half  Moon  Papers),  New  York,  1899. 

The  Cyclopaedia  of  Education,  Henry  Kiddle  and  Alexander  J.  Schem, 
New  York,  1877. 

Origin  and  Development  of  the  New  York  Common  School  System,  An- 
drew S.  Draper  (an  address  delivered  before  the  New  York  State  Teachers' 
Association,  at  Saratoga  Springs,  N.Y.),  Washington.  1890. 


xxii  Bibliography 

The  Public  School :  History  of  Common  School  Education  in  New  York 
State  from  1633  to  1904,  Charles  E.  Fitch,  Albany,  N.Y.,  1904. 

Annals  of  Public  Education  in  the  State  of  New  York,  from  1626  to  1746, 
Daniel  J.  Pratt,  Albany,  N.Y.,  1872. 

Valentine's  Manuals  of  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

Longworth's  Directory,  1805. 

The  Description  of  the  City  of  New  York,  James  Hardie,  New  York,  1827. 

A  History  of  Education  in  the  United  States,  Edwin  Grant  Dexter,  New 
York,  1904. 

Education  for  Adults  :  The  History  of  the  Free  Lecture  System  of  the  City 
of  New  York,  Henry  M.  Leipziger,  New  York,  1904. 

The  Life  and  Writings  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  William  W.  Campbell,  New 
York,  1849. 

The  Works  of  William  H.  Seward,  edited  by  George  E.  Baker,  New  York, 

1853. 

History  of  Kings  County,  Henry  R.  Stiles,  New  York,  1884. 

The  History  of  the  Town  of  Flatbush,  Thomas  M.  Strong,  New  York,  1842. 

Early  Settlers  of  Kings  County,  Teunis  G.  Bergen. 

A  History  of  Long  Island,  Peter  Ross,  New  York,  1902. 

Historical  Sketch  of  the  Public  Schools  and  Board  of  Education  of  Brook- 
lyn, Thomas  W.  Field,  Brooklyn,  1873. 

The  History  of  Long  Island,  Benjamin  F.  Thompson,  New  York,  1843. 

Flatbush,  Past  and  Present,  Edmund  D.  Fisher,  New  York,  1901. 

History  of  the  Early  Schools  in  Long  Island,  J.  H.  Thiry,  Long  Island 
City,  1904. 

The  Annals  of  Newtown,  James  Riker,  Jr.,  New  York,  1852. 

History  of  the  Town  of  Flushing,  Henry  D.  Waller,  1899. 

Flushing,  Past  and  Present,  G.  Henry  Mandeville,  Flushing,  1860. 

History  of  Westchester  County,  J.  Thomas  Scharf,  Philadelphia,  1886. 

History  of  the  County  of  Westchester,  Robert  Bolton,  New  York,  1881. 

History  of  Westchester  County,  Frederic  Shonnard  and  W.  W.  Spooner, 
New  York,  1900. 

Memorial  History  of  Staten  Island,  Ira  K.  Morris,  1900. 


INTRODUCTION 

THIS  centennial  History  of  the  New  York  Public  School  is 
modestly  called  by  its  author  "a  chronicle,"  and  so  it  is;  but  it 
is  much  more  than  a  chronicle  taken  from  the  official  records  of 
the  Department  of  Education  of  the  City  of  New  York.  The 
author  has  had  ready  access  to  the  records  of  the  Free  School 
Society,  established  in  1805,  and  later  known  as  the  Public 
School  Society,  as  well  as  to  the  records  of  all  the  educational 
departments  now  merged  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of 
Education  of  New  York  City.  He  has  also  read  carefully  all 
the  monographs  relating  to  the  history  of  education  in  any  part 
of  the  local  field,  as  well  as  such  local  histories  as  throw  light 
upon  the  subject  with  which  he  deals.  The  result  is  a  very 
readable  book  for  all  who  are  interested  in  this  subject,  and  a 
mine  of  information  for  the  student.  The  legal  development  of 
the  City  School  system  is  clearly  traced,  and  also  the  gradual 
but  steady  growth  in  the  city  of  a  consistent  system  of  public 
education,  that,  after  one  hundred  years,  begins  with  the  kinder- 
garten and  ends  with  the  college.  The  many-sided  service  of 
the  Department  of  Education  is  also  pointed  out,  in  its  mainten- 
ance of  evening  schools,  vacation  schools,  play  centres,  public 
lectures,  and  the  like,  and  the  origin  and  growth  of  each  distinc- 
tive feature  is  clearly  shown.  Information  heretofore  widely 
scattered  is  concentrated  in  this  single  volume. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  how  the  cosmopolitan  character 
of  the  City  appears  even  in  the  origins  of  its  educational  system. 
In  Manhattan,  Brooklyn,  and  Queens,  the  first  schools  are  traced 
back  to  the  Dutch ;  in  the  Bronx,  through  the  towns  of  West- 
chester  and  Eastchester,  they  go  back  to  the  English ;  while  in 


xxiv  Introduction 

Richmond,  the  credit  of  laying  foundations  is  due  to  the  Wal- 
denses  and  Huguenots.  Everywhere,  at  the  beginning,  the  first 
schools  were  closely  allied  to  the  churches.  A  debt  of  grati- 
tude is  especially  due  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  as  pioneers  in 
several  parts  of  the  City  in  the  effort  to  secure  education  for  the 
neglected. 

In  every  Dutch  settlement  now  included  within  the  City  of 
New  York,  the  schoolmaster  followed  closely  on  the  coming  of 
the  clergy  man;  (and  the  Dutch  schools  were  essentially  public 
schools.  \  In  the  English  period  such  a  thing  as  a  public  school, 
as  now  conceived  of,  was  not  known ;  though  some  of  the  Eng- 
lish churches  maintained  parish  schools,  and  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  sent  schoolmasters 
to  one  or  two  neighborhoods.  After  the  Revolution,  and  until 
the  establishment  of  the  Free  School  Society,  little  was  done  in 
the  City  looking  towards  free  public  education.  It  is  very  note- 
worthy that  the  Manumission  Society  of  New  York,  popularly 
so  called,  was  founded  in  1785  for  the  express  purpose,  among 
other  things,  of  giving  to  negroes  "  the  elements  of  education." 
A  free  school  for  colored  children  was  opened  under  the  auspices 
of  this  Society  in  1787.  This  marked  the  first  faint  impulse 
towards  free  public  education.  It  was  also  the  beginning  of 
separate  schools  for  colored  children,  which  thus  became,  later, 
a  feature  of  the  public  school  system  of  the  City,  from  which 
they  finally  disappeared,  only  in  1900,  during  the  administration 
of  Governor  Roosevelt,  who  signed  an  Act  abolishing  such 
schools  in  Queens  County,  the  portion  of  the  City  in  which  they 
survived  longest.  This  free  school  for  colored  children  founded 
in  1787  was  followed,  in  1805,  by  the  organization  of  the  Free 
School  Society  under  the  presidency  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  then 
Mayor  of  the  City,  whose  object  it  was  to  furnish  free  education 
for  the  many  children  whose  parents  could  not  afford  to  pay  for 
it,  and  whom  the  church  schools,  then  existing,  did  not  reach. 
This  Free  School  Society  became,  in  1826,  the  Public  School 
Society ;  a  change  of  name  that  marked  a  change  in  its  own  con- 


Introduction  xxv 

ception  of  its  mission,  and  that  marked,  also,  a  great  advance 
in  the  general  understanding  of  the  obligations  of  the  com- 
munity towards  popular  education.  This  change  of  ideal  from 
a  free  school  for  the  poor  to  a  public  school  for  all,  was  the 
beginning  of  the  end  of  the  Public  School  Society ;  for  public 
schools  for  all  could  manifestly  be  adequately  carried  on  only  by 
the  community  itself  in  its  corporate  capacity.  In  1842  the 
first  Board  of  Education  in  the  old  City  of  New  York  was  estab- 
lished, and  for  several  years  this  Board  and  the  Public  School 
Society  continued  to  carry  on  their  work  side  by  side.  In  1847 
the  Board  of  Education  asked  for  authority  from  the  State  to 
establish  a  free  academy.  This  proposition  was  submitted  to 
popular  decision  in  June  of  that  year,  and  was  endorsed  by  a 
vote  of  19,404  to  3409.  Finally,  in  1853,  the  schools  of  the 
Public  School  Society  were  turned  over  to  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, and  the  system  became  a  public  system  in  every  respect. 
There  are  few  chapters  more  interesting,  or  more  inspiring,  in 
the  history  of  popular  education,  than  the  rapid  development  of 
the  sentiment  in  favor  of  it  in  the  City  of  New  York.  It  took 
little  more  than  sixty  years  for  the  free  school  for  colored 
children,  and  less  than  fifty  years  for  the  first  school  of  the 
Free  School  Society,  to  develop  into  an  educational  system 
headed  by  a  free  academy,  maintained  by  taxation,  and  under 
popular  control.  Truly,  here  in  New  York  and  in  the  matter 
of  education,  Democracy  is  justified  of  all  her  children. 

Taking  the  entire  hundred  years  into  consideration,  the 
advance  in  the  conception  of  the  qualifications  necessary  for  the 
public  school  teacher  is  hardly  less  notable.  The  Free  School 
Society  introduced  what  was  known  as  the  Lancasterian  system, 
a  prominent  feature  of  which  was,  that  advanced  pupils  should 
be  employed  to  give  instruction  to  those  less  advanced.  Start- 
ing thus  with  schools  largely  equipped  with  pupil  teachers,  the 
insistence  upon  some  professional  training  gradually  became  so 
strong,  that,  at  first,  certain  classes  were  started  for  the  training 
of  teachers ;  then,  a  full  year  of  professional  training  in  some 


xxvi  Introduction 

normal  or  training  school  was  demanded ;  while,  at  the  present 
time,  two  full  years  of  such  professional  instruction  is  required 
of  all  who  wish  to  become  teachers  in  the  public  schools. 

The  development  of  public  education  is  traced  by  the  author 
in  Brooklyn,  also,  in  Queens,  in  the  Bronx,  and  in  Richmond ; 
and  the  steps  taken  to  unify  the  educational  system  of  the  great 
City,  after  the  consolidation  of  1898,  are  carefully  pointed  out. 
Two  things  are  evident  from  this  story :  first,  the  great  difficulty 
of  the  task  devolved  upon  the  educational  authorities  by  consoli- 
dation ;  and  second,  the  great  progress  made  by  the  schools  in 
all  parts  of  the  City,  since  consolidation  took  place.  There  was, 
inevitably,  danger  that  the  uniformity  certain  to  come  from  con- 
solidation would  involve  a  gradual  dragging  down  of  the  better 
parts  of  the  system  to  the  level  of  the  lower.  It  is  more  than 
gratifying  to  be  able  to  say  that  this  unification  has  been  suc- 
cessfully brought  about,  in  fact,  by  lifting  the  poorer  parts  to 
the  level  of  the  better.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said,  generally,  that 
the  best  features  of  each  separate  system  have  been  kept  for  the 
benefit  of  all.  Undoubtedly,  in  an  educational  system  compris- 
ing so  many  schools,  there  is,  and  there  always  will  be,  great 
variations  in  quality  as  between  individual  schools.  But  every 
Borough  of  the  great  City  has  a  better  school  system  to-day  than 
it  ever  had  before.  There  is  a  higher  standard  of  qualification 
demanded  of  teachers  and  all  school  officers.  The  pay  and  con- 
ditions of  service  are  better ;  the  character  of  school  buildings 
constantly  improves ;  and  the  curriculum  compares  favorably 
with  that  offered  anywhere  in  the  United  States.  Of  these 
advantages  no  one  Borough  has  the  monopoly,  but  all  share 
them  alike.  How  well  the  New  York  Public  Schools,  as  schools, 
stand  at  the  moment,  is  attested  by  the  awards  recently  made  at 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition.  Under  Group  I  New  York 
has  been  granted  a  Grand  Prize  (the  highest  honor),  and  three 
gold  medals;  for  elementary  education.  Under  Group  II  New 
York  City  has  been  granted  a  Grand  Prize,  and  four  gold 
medals;  for  secondary  education.  This  is  a  great  distinction 


Introduction  xxvii 

to  secure,  within  seven  years  after  consolidation,  for  a  system  on 
so  vast  a  scale  as  to  comprise  in  1903-1904,  546  school  build- 
ings;  more  than  13,000  teachers  and  a  registration  of  622,000 
pupils.  It  may  truthfully  be  said  that  consolidation  has  thor- 
oughly justified  itself  already,  in  this  vital  department  of  public 
activity,  in  that  tens  of  thousands  of  children  are  being  better 
educated  every  year  than  they  could  possibly  have  been  under 
the  old  conditions. 

The  establishment  of  the  Free  Academy  in  1847,  and  its 
reorganization  as  a  college  in  1866,  were,  in  themselves,  great 
steps  forward.  Being  followed,  however,  as  they  were,  by  the 
establishment  of  the  Normal  School  for  Girls  as  a  college,  in 
1871,  the  two  institutions  together  had  the  effect  of  throwing 
the  public  school  system  of  New  York  City,  for  many  years, 
out  of  line  with  the  public  school  development  throughout  the 
United  States.  That  development  ordinarily  contemplated  the 
high  school  as  the  top  of  a  city  public  school  system ;  and  New 
York  City,  for  long,  had  no  high  schools.  In  the  West,  very 
generally,  the  State  establishes  and  maintains  a  State  Univer- 
sity as  the  crown  of  the  public  system  of  education ;  but,  in 
the  East,  the  colleges  and  universities  were,  and  are,  under 
private  control.  In  the  absence  of  high  schools  it  was  impos- 
sible for  either  boy  or  girl  to  be  fitted  in  the  public  schools  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  for  entrance  into  any  college  outside 
of  the  City  colleges ;  and  the  long  absence  of  high  schools  had 
the  further  unfortunate  effect  of  keeping  the  teachers  of  New 
York  City  out  of  touch  with  a  great  body  of  the  most  pro- 
gressive teachers  in  the  country.  Happily,  of  recent  years, 
this  difficulty,  also,  has  been  remedied;  and,  since  con- 
solidation, eleven  new  high  school  buildings  have  been  either 
completed  or  begun.  Concurrently  with  this  development  of 
high  schools,  New  York  has  developed  its  two  colleges  until 
they  also  stand,  or  will  soon  stand,  on  a  level  with  the  better 
colleges  in  the  country  in  respect  of  the  education  they  give. 
New  York,  therefore,  instead  of  being,  as  it  was  for  many 


xxviii  Introduction 

years,  the  city  in  the  United  States  in  which  public  educa- 
tion was  least  well  organized,  has  now  the  proud  distinction  of 
being  the  only  American  city  to  offer,  unaided,  to  all  its  chil- 
dren, an  educational  opportunity  that  begins  with  the  kinder- 
garten and  includes  not  only  the  high  school  but  also  the  college. 

Speaking  here  of  "The  characteristic  American  Faith  in 
Education,"  President  Eliot  of  Harvard  University  said,  this 
very  month :  "  New  York  City  has  produced  a  system  of  public 
instruction  which  the  whole  country  may  well  copy.  It  is  de- 
veloping a  public  education  which,  far  from  being  confined  to 
the  years  of  childhood,  goes  on  with  the  adult  while  life  lasts. 
It  continues  the  education  of  adults  by  evening  schools  and 
free  public  lectures,  and  is  making  its  school  buildings  constant 
day  and  night  educational  centres."  Thus  it  is  seen,  that, 
while  New  York  has  been  improving  the  structure  of  its  school 
system  at  every  point,  it  has  been  likewise  making  its  school 
buildings,  and  school  resources,  more  widely  and  more  demo- 
cratically useful  than  ever  before.  The  typical  school  build- 
ing of  New  York  City,  instead  of  being,  as  it  used  to  be,  a 
building  in  use  for  a  few  hours  only,  on  five  days  of  the  week 
during  nine  months  of  the  year,  is  now  one  of  the  busiest  cen- 
tres of  activity,  day  and  evening,  throughout  the  entire  year. 

One  other  matter  of  importance  calls  for  a  word  of  comment. 
The  public  schools  of  New  York  minister  to  the  children  of  a 
population  that  is  of  very  mixed  origin.  In  a  single  night 
class,  not  long  ago,  twenty-six  different  languages  were  the 
native  languages  of  those  in  attendance.  The  children  of  such 
a  population,  when  they  first  go  to  school,  are  little  in  touch  with 
each  other,  and  have  no  common  speech.  These  wonderful 
public  schools,  over  and  above  and  beyond  everything  else, 
make  them  all  Americans ;  with  a  love  for  the  flag,  with  a  com- 
mon speech,  and  with  a  sympathy  for  each  other  born  of  their 
close  association.  The  good  discipline,  generally  maintained,  is 
evidenced  by  the  uniform  good  order  under  the  supreme  test 
of  fire.  Only  a  few  weeks  ago,  the  children  were  marched  out 


Introduction  xxix 

of  a  burning  school  building,  in  three  minutes,  in  perfect  order, 
and  no  one  was  hurt.  The  value  of  such  training  is  not  to  be 
expressed  in  dollars,  nor  in  words.  Doubtless  our  schools  still 
have  many  imperfections ;  doubtless  it  will  require  constant 
watchfulness  to  preserve  what  is  good  in  them,  and  constant  en- 
deavor to  improve  them.  But  the  results  outlined  are  in  them- 
selves notable,  and  call  for  generous  recognition  on  the  part  of 
the  people  of  the  City  of  the  long  line  of  men  and  women,  who, 
for  a  century,  have  labored,  in  season  and  out,  in  the  schools 
themselves,  and  in  the  Board  of  Education,  and  in  its  employ- 
ment, to  bring  about  such  results.  Certainly,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  popular  education,  the  City  of  New  York  is  "  no  mean 
city." 

On  page  313  of  this  volume,  the  author  says  of  the  reduction 
of  the  tax  rate  of  four  mills  for  the  benefit  of  the  General 
School  Fund  to  three  mills,  as  an  incident  of  the  policy  of  full 
valuation  of  the  real  estate  of  the  City  for  purposes  of  taxation : 
"  The  effect  of  this  change  was  serious."  This  is  a  common 
misapprehension.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  General  School 
Fund  has  received  a  larger  sum,  each  year,  from  the  three  mill 
rate  on  the  new  basis  of  valuation  than  it  would  have  received 
from  the  four  mill  rate  on  the  old  basis  of  valuation.  What 
has  really  taken  place  is  this.  The  four  mill  rate  originally  pro- 
vided a  larger  sum  than  the  Board  of  Education  actually  needed. 
Finding  the  money  at  command,  the  Board  developed  vacation 
schools,  play  centres,  and  the  like,  and  so  made  it  highly  use- 
ful. But,  in  recent  years,  the  very  large  sums  appropriated  for 
school  buildings  have  necessitated  an  unusually  rapid  increase  in 
the  number  of  teachers ;  while  the  annual  increase  of  salaries 
provided  for  by  the  Davis  Law,  affecting  the  whole  body  of 
teachers,  old  and  new  alike,  has  created  a  demand  for  an  increase 
in  the  salary  budget,  year  by  year,  that  is  quite  abnormal.  The 
tax  rate  ought  to  be  fixed  at  a  figure  that  will  provide  what 
is  really  necessary,  not  only  for  teachers'  salaries  but  also  to 
enable  the  Board  to  maintain  and  expand  the  highly  useful 


xxx  Introduction 

functions  of  the  public  schools,  represented  by  evening  schools, 
vacation  schools,  recreation  centres,  and  the  like.  But  it  can- 
not be  considered  a  misfortune  that  the  Board  has  been 
compelled  to  economize,  at  every  possible  point,  before  the  deter- 
mination of  the  rate,  proper  in  view  of  existing  conditions,  is 
finally  reached. 

This  centennial  History  of  the  New  York  Public  School 
cannot  fail  to  awaken  a  sense  of  pride  in  our  citizens,  and  a  pro- 
found sense  of  gratitude  towards  all  who  have  taken  part  in 
making  our  public  school  system  what  it  is ;  and  especially  to 
the  great  army  of  teachers,  the  dead  and  the  living,  who  have 
wrought,  and  are  now  working,  their  lives  into  it,  year  by  year. 
The  New  York  City  of  to-day  is  very  largely  their  handiwork ; 
and  the  New  York  that  is  to  be  will  be  more  largely  indebted 
to  them  than  to  any  other  single  factor  that  will  influence  its 
history. 

SETH   LOW. 
NEW  YORK,  December  31, 1904. 


THE    NEW  YORK   PUBLIC   SCHOOL 


The  New  York  Public  School 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTORY  — SCHOOLS   PRIOR  TO   1805 
I.   SCHOOLS  UNDER  THE  RULE  OF  THE  DUTCH 

IT  is  not  a  matter  of  surprise  that  the  founders  of  New 
Amsterdam  gave  early  attention  to  the  education  of  their  chil- 
dren. In  their  own  country  they  were  familiar  with  such  educa- 
tion, and  had  learned  to  regard  it  as  indispensable.  The  interest 
of  the  Dutch  in  this  matter  is  well  known.  "  Neither  the  perils 
of  war,  nor  the  busy  pursuit  of  gain,  nor  the  excitement  of  politi- 
cal strife,  ever  caused  the  Dutch  to  neglect  the  duty  of  educating 
their  offspring  to  enjoy  that  freedom  for  which  their  fathers 
had  fought.  Schools  were  every  where  provided,  at  the  public 
expense,  with  good  schoolmasters,  to  instruct  the  children  of  all 
classes  in  the  usual  branches  of  education ;  and  the  consistories 
of  the  churches  took  zealous  care  to  have  their  youth  thoroughly 
taught  the  Catechism  and  the  Articles  of  Religion."1  It  was 
the  custom  of  the  Dutch,  "(after  the  Reformation  in  Holland,  to 
send  out  with  emigrants  going  to  any  of  its  colonies,  however 
few  in  number^  well-qualified  schoolmaster,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Churchjand  accredited  by  his  competence  and  piety  to 
take  charge  of  the  instruction  of  children  and  youth."2 

The  colony  on  Manhattan  Island  was  permanently  estab- 
lished in  1626,  although  the  charter  of  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company  was  obtained  in  1621,  and  a  few  settlers  had  taken  up 

1  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Brodhead,  Vol.  I,  pp.  462,  463. 

2  Introduction  (by  Thomas  De  Witt)  to  History  of  the  School  of  the  Reformed 
Protestant  Dutch  Church  in  the  City  of  New  York,  Dunshee,  p.  7. 

B  I 


2  The  New  York  Public  School 

their  abode  there  as  early  as  the  winter  of  1613-1614.  The 
Company  "promised  to  support  and  maintain  good  and  fit 
preachers,  schoolmasters,  and  comforters  of  the  sick."1  The 
establishment  of  schools  and  the  appointment  of  schoolmasters 
were  within  the  province  of  the  Company  and  the  Classis  of 
Amsterdam. 

Although  for  several  years  the  offices  of  minister  and  school- 
master are  supposed  to  have  been  filled  by  the  same  person, 
there  is  nothing  in  the  records  to  show  that  anything  was  done 
in  the  way  of  instruction.  There  was  no  minister  in  the  colony 
at  the  beginning,  the  place  of  a  clergyman  being  supplied  to 
some  extent  by  two  "  krank-besoeckers,"  or  "  comforters  of  the 
sick,"  who  were  required  to  visit  and  pray  with  sick  persons. 
Ministers  were  in  some  cases  called  upon  to  look  after  the 
instruction  of  children  in  other  things  than  the  Catechism ;  but 

"  the  course  most  commonly  pursued,  when  a  colony  was  to  be  established, 
was,  to  have  a  schoolmaster  accompany  the  settlers,  and,  to  a  certain  extent, 
conduct  religious  services.  After  habitations  were  erected,  and  the  settlement 
had  assumed  a  warrantable  degree  of  stability,  it  was  provided  with  a  minister."  2 

It  is  not  probable  that  many  children  were  brought  over  by 
the  immigrants  from  Holland,  and  those  born  on  Manhattan 
Island  would  not  have  been  ready  to  attend  school  much  before 
the  date  of  the  arrival  of  the  first  schoolmaster,  in  1633.  In 
that  year  the  second  Director-General,  Wouter  Van  Twiller, 
arrived  at  Manhattan,  and  with  him  came  the  Rev.  Everardus 
Bogardus,  the  second  minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  Adam  Roe- 
lantsen,3  the  first  schoolmaster.  It  was  several  years  before  a 
schoolhouse  was  built ;  in  the  mean  time  school  was  held  in  a 
room  hired  for  the  purpose,  or  in  a  room  in  the  schoolmaster's 
house.  The  school  was  free.  Roelantsen  was  a  salaried  official 
of  the  West  India  Company,  receiving  a  compensation  of  360 

1  History  of  New  Netherland,  O'Callaghan,  Vol.  I,  p.  220. 

2  See  Dunshee,  pp.  25,  26,  27. 

8  The  name  is  spelled  by  some  historians  Roelandsen  ;  the  writer  has  found  it  in 
one  or  two  cases  Roelandson,  and  once  Roelandsden. 


Schools  under  the  Rule  of  the  Dutch  3 

florins1  ($144)  per  annum.  There  is  some  reason  to  believe 
that  this  pioneer  in  the  army  of  schoolteachers  on  Manhattan 
Island  took  in  washing,  to  increase  his  income.  He  was  a  man 
of  quarrelsome  disposition,  and  during  his  somewhat  checkered 
career  in  New  Amsterdam  was  the  plaintiff  or  defendant  in 
numerous  lawsuits.  In  1646  he  was  sentenced  by  the  court  to 
be  flogged  and  banished  forever  out  of  the  country,  but  this 
sentence  was  not  carried  out  on  account  of  his  four  motherless 
children.  In  the  following  year,  it  is  stated,  he  was  appointed 
Provost;  and  in  1653  Adam  Roelantsen  was  a  member  of  the 
Burgher  Corps  of  New  Amsterdam.2 

"It  is  not  impossible,"  says  Valentine,  "that  the  severe 
measures  taken  against  Roelantsen  were  only  adopted  after 
his  professional  services  had  become  no  longer  a  necessity. 
For  the  year  previous  to  his  banishment,  one  Alien  Jansen 
Van  Ilpendam  settled  here  and  opened  school.  .  .  .  We  find, 
from  various  sources,  that  Van  Ilpendam  taught  several  chil- 
dren, who  afterward  became  among  the  leading  citizens  in 
town.  He  lived  in  this  city  and  taught  school  during  many 
subsequent  years,  at  least  as  late  as  in  the  year  1660"  (Manual, 
1863,  p.  561).  Mrs.  Lamb  is  authority  for  the  statement  that  a 
new  school  was  started  by  Arien  Jansen  Van  Olfendam,  who 
arrived  from  Holland  March  3,  1645,  and  taught  until  1660. 
"  His  terms  of  tuition  were  *  two  beavers '  per  annum,  — beavers 
meaning  dried  beaver-skins."3 

fin  the  year  1638  appears  the  record  of  the  first  tax  for 
the  maintenance  of  schools!  the  following  law  having  been 
proposed : 

"  Each  householder  and  inhabitant  shall  bear  such  tax  and  public  charge 
as  shall  hereafter  be  considered  proper  for  the  maintenance  of  clergymen,  com- 
forters of  the  sick,  schoolmasters,  and  such  like  necessary  officers."  4 

1  The  value  of  a  florin  or  guilder  was  about  forty  cents. 

2  O'Callaghan,  Vol.  II,  p.  569. 

*  History  of  the  City  of  New  York,  Vol.  I,  p.  123. 

*  Holland  Documents,  Vol.  I,  p.  112. 


4  The  New  York  Public  School 

In  Annals  of  Public  Education  in  the  State  of  New  York 
Mr.  Pratt  states  that 

"as  early  as  1642,  it  was  customary,  in  marriage  contracts,  whenever  the  bride 
was  a  widow  having  children,  for  the  parties  to  '  promise  to  bring  up  the  chil- 
dren decently,  according  to  their  ability,  to  provide  them  with  necessary  cloth- 
ing and  food,  to  keep  them  at  school,  to  let  them  learn  reading,  writing,  and  a 
good  trade ' ;  to  which  was  sometimes  added  '  as  honest  parents  ought  and  are 
bound  to  do,  and  as  they  can  answer  before  God  and  man '  "  (p.  5). 

According  to  some  authorities,  Roelantsen  appears  to  have 
been  succeeded  in  1643  by  Jan  Stevenson,  called  by  Dominie 
Backerus  a  "  faithful  schoolmaster  and  reader,  who  has  served 
the  Company  here  for  six  or  seven  years,  and  is  now  [Sep- 
tember, 1648]  going  home."1  From  Mrs.  Lamb  we  learn  that 

"about  that  time  [1648],  Jan  Stevenson  opened  a  small  private  school  which 
was  tolerably  well  patronized.  The  best  families  had  generally  their  own  pri- 
vate tutors  direct  from  Europe  ;  but  there  were  enough  to  support  a  school 
besides,  and  the  new  teacher  found  himself  fully  occupied"  (Vol.  I,  p.  139). 

It  would  appear  probable  that  Stevenson  opened  his  private 
school  after  severing  his  connection  with  the  free  school  and 
after  a  visit  to  his  native  land.  According  to  Dunshee  (p.  35), 
however,  Jan  Cornelissen  was  "  the  second  teacher  mentioned  in 
connection  with  the  public  school  under  the  care  of  the  church." 

About  this  time  efforts  were  made  to  build  a  schoolhouse. 
Subscriptions  were  solicited  for  the  purpose ;  but  in  1649  a 
remonstrance  addressed  to  the  States-General  stated  that 

"The. plate  has  been  a  long  time  passed  around  for  a  Common  School 
which  has  been  built  with  words  ;  for,  as  yet,  the  first  stone  is  not  laid ;  some 
materials  have  only  been  provided.  However,  the  money  given  for  the  pur- 
pose hath  all  disappeared  and  is  mostly  spent,  so  that  it  falls  somewhat  short  ; 
and  nothing  permanent  has  as  yet  been  effected  for  this  purpose." 

The  remonstrance  further  declared  that  "  There  ought  to  be 
also  a  Public  school  provided  with  at  least  two  good  teachers,"  etc.2 

1  The  Memorial  History  of  the  City  of  New  York,  edited  by  James  Grant  Wilson, 
Vol.  IV,  p.  576. 

2  See  Holland  Documents,  Vol.  I,  pp.  300,  317,  423,  424. 


Schools  under  the  Rule  of  the  Dutch  5 

The  answer  to  the  remonstrance,  made  in  the  following  year 
(1650),  stated  that 

"Although  the  new  School-house,  towards  which  the  Commonalty  contrib- 
uted something,  has  not  yet  been  built,  it  is  not  the  Director,  but  the  Church 
wardens,  who  have  charge  of  the  funds.  The  Director  is  busy  providing  mate- 
rials. Meanwhile  a  place  has  been  selected  for  a  School,  of  which  Jan  Cornel- 
issen  has  charge.  The  other  teachers  keep  school  in  hired  houses,  so  that  the 
youth  are  not  in  want  of  schools  to  the  extent  of  the  circumstances  of  the 
country." 

Jan  Cornelissen  is  reputed  to  have  been  lazy  and  of  bad 
habits.  Peter  Stuyvesant  was  now  Director-General  of  the 
colony,  and  he  petitioned  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam  for  "a 
pious,  well-qualified,  and  diligent  schoolmaster."  In  response 
William  Verstius1  was  sent  out.  Little  is  known  of  him 
beyond  the  fact  that  in  1654  he  petitioned  the  Classis  of 
Amsterdam  for  an  increase  of  salary;  in  the  following  year 
he  withdrew  from  the  school.  Wilson  says  that  after  Steven- 
son's return  to  Holland,  in  September,  1648,  his  place  was 
temporarily  filled  by  Pieter  van  der  Linde,  who  was  appointed 
October  26th,  at  a  salary  of  150  florins  ($60),  "until  another 
proper  person  can  be  sent  from  Holland"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  5/6). 
This  "  proper  person "  apparently  was  Verstius. 

As  one  consequence  of  the  above-mentioned  remonstrance, 
made  in  1649,  a  second  school  was  opened  in  1652,  under  the 
direction  of  Jan  De  La  Montagne,2  but  it  is  uncertain  how  long 
it  was  continued.  According  to  Dunshee  (p.  40),  there  is  a 
strong  probability  that  its  existence  was  of  short  duration. 

Verstius  was  superseded  in  1655  by  Harmanus  Van  Ho- 
boocken  (or  Hoboken),  at  a  salary  of  35  guilders  per  month 

1  This  name  is  also  spelled  Vestius  and  Vestens. 

2  The  Amsterdam  Chamber  "  assented  to  the  establishment  of  a  public  school," 
which  "  was  opened  in  one  of  the  small  rooms  of  the  great  stone  tavern,  and  Dr.  La 
Montagne  offered  to  teach  until  a  suitable  master  could  be  obtained  from  Holland." 
—  LAMB,  Vol.  I,  p.  158.     "The  City  Tavern,  subsequently  named  the  Stadt  Huys  or 
City  Hall,  stood  on  the  corner  of  Pearl  street  and  Coenties  alley."  —  DUNSHEE,  p.  38. 


6  The  New  York  Public  School 

and  100  guilders  annual  expenditures.  In  1656  New  Amster- 
dam contained  120  houses  and  about  1000  inhabitants;  and 
"the  number  of  children  at  the  public  school  having  greatly 
increased,  further  accommodation  was  allowed  to  Harman  van 
Hoboken,  the  schoolmaster."  1  In  1656  he  made  application  to 
the  Burgomasters  and  Schepens  for  "the  hall  and  the  side 
room "  of  the  City  Hall  "  for  the  use  of  the  school  and  as  a 
dwelling,  inasmuch  as  he,  the  petitioner,  does  not  know  how  to 
manage  for  the  proper  accommodation  of  the  children  during 
winter,  for  they  much  require  a  place  adapted  for  fire  and  to 
be  warmed,  for  which  their  present  tenement  is  wholly  unfit." 
The  request  was  denied,  but  an  allowance  of  100  guilders  yearly 
was  made  to  the  master  "  for  the  present  and  until  further  order." 
The  question  of  building  a  schoolhouse  at  the  public  expense 
was  thereupon  again  agitated,  but  without  any  practical  result. 

After  a  few  years  Van  Hoboocken  was  succeeded  by  Evert 
Pietersen,  who  was  at  first  employed  as  a  colleague  or  substitute 
during  the  illness  of  the  regular  schoolmaster ;  but  a  little  later 
Pietersen  was  regularly  appointed,  and  Van  Hoboocken  was 
provided  for  by  the  Director-General,  and  assigned  to  duty  as 
schoolmaster  and  clerk  on  the  latter's  "  bouwery,"  or  farm,  in 
the  vicinity  of  what  is  now  Third  avenue  and  Twelfth  street. 

A  civil  ordinance  in  reference  to  the  public  catechising  of 
children  was  promulgated  in  1664  by  the  Director-General  and 
the  Council,  declaring  that  "  it  is  highly  necessary  and  of  great 
consequence  that  the  youth,  from  their  childhood,  is  well 
instructed  in  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  and  principally 
in  the  principles  and  fundaments  of  the  Christian  religion."  2 

In  1658  steps  were  taken  for  the  establishment  of  a  Latin 
school,  or  academy,  and  in  the  following  year  Dr.  Alexander 
Carolus  Curtius/was  sent  from  Lithuania  to  take  charge  of  it. 
The  city  magistrates  proposed  to  pay  him  500  guilders  annually 
from  the  city  treasury ;  he  was  allowed  the  use  of  a  house  and 

1  Brodhead,  Vol.  I,  p.  623. 

2  See  Dunshee,  pp.  48,  49 ;  Historic  New  York,  II,  pp.  340,  341. 


Schools  during  the  British  Colonial  Regime        7 

garden,  and  was  permitted  to  charge  for  each  scholar  six  guilders 
per  quarter.  The  privilege  of  practising  medicine  was  also 
granted  to  him.  Although  a  learned  man,  Dr.  Curtius  lacked 
power  of  discipline  and  his  administration  was  not  successful. 
Dr.  ^Egidius  Luyck  became  principal  of  the  school  in  1662, 
and,  says  Dunshee,  "under  his  charge,  it  attained  so  high  a 
reputation,  that  children  were  sent  to  it  from  Virginia,  Fort 
Orange  and  the  Delaware,  to  receive  a  classical  education" 

(P.  53).  _ 

During  the  period  of  Dutch  colonization  a  number  of  private 
schools  were  conducted  in  New  Amsterdam,  and  at  the  close 
of  Stuyvesant's  administration  (1664)  a  dozen  or  more  were  in 
existence.  The  teachers  of  these  schools  were  licensed  by  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities,  no  one  being  allowed  to  carry 
on  a  school  without  such  a  license. 

II.   SCHOOLS  DURING  THE  BRITISH  COLONIAL  REGIME 

At  the  close  of  the  Dutch  administration,  in  1664)  when 
New  Netherland  became  a  British  colony,  the  little  city  on 
Manhattan  Island  (henceforth  called  New  York)  contained 
about  1500  inhabitants.  Although  Dutch  rule  ceased,  Dutch 
influence  continued,  and,  while  the  early  English  laws  respect- 
ing the  colony  contained  nothing  on  the  subject  of  schools  and 
schoolmasters,  the  instruction  of  the  young  was  not  ignored. 
Evert  Pietersen  remained  in  charge  of  the  school  conducted 
by  him,  but  nothing  can  be  found  of  record  in  reference  to 
the  school, carried  on  by  Van  Hoboocken  in  the  vicinity  of 
Stuyvesant's  bouwery,  which  was  probably  discontinued.1 

"The  ecclesiastical  organization  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  remaining  intact,  she  still  acknowledged  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Classis  of  Amsterdam.  The  school  continued,  as  hereto- 
fore, under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  deacons ;  and  being 
now  deprived  of  all  aid  from  the  treasury  of  the  colonial  gov- 

1  See  Dunshee,  p.  54. 


8  The  New  York  Public  School 

ernment,  its  support  wholly  devolved  upon  the  Consistory ;  and 
the  institution  had  such  strong  hold  on  the  affections  of  the 
Dutch  people,  that  they  could  not  and  would  not  relinquish  their 
jurisdiction  over  it."  1 

The  Latin  school  established  in  1659,  and  successfully  con- 
ducted by  Luyck  at  the  time  of  the  capitulation,  was  continued 
under  the  English  rule  for  eight  years,  when  it  was  closed.2 

On  the  accession  of  James  II,  instructions  were  sent  to 
Governor  Dongan  (1683-1689)  that  no  schoolmaster  should  be 
permitted  to  keep  school  in  the  Province  of  New  York  without 
a  license  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  and  several  suc- 
ceeding Governors  were  instructed  that  no  schoolmaster  should 
teach  without  a  license  from  the  Bishop  of  London. 

The  charter  of  incorporation  granted  by  William  III  to  the 
Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  America  contained  the  following 
stipulation : 

"  And  our  will  and  pleasure  further  is,  and  we  do  hereby  declare  that,  the 
ministers  of  said  Church,  for  the  time  being,  shall  and  may,  by  and  with  the 
consent  of  the  elders  and  deacons  of  the  said  Church,  for  the  time  being, 
nominate  and  appoint  a  schoolmaster  and  such  other  under  officers  as  they 
shall  stand  in  need  of." 

Nevertheless  some  of  the  English  Governors  undertook  to 
interfere  with  the  schools  maintained  by  the  Dutch  Church,  and 
early  in  the  eighteenth  century  Lord  Cornbury,  according  to 
the  records  of  the  consistory,  adopted  "arbitrary  measures," 
took  "  the  regulation  of  schools  into  his  own  hands,  and  claimed 
the  direct  appointment  of  the  schoolmaster."  3 

The  first  step  under  English  rule  in  aid  of  popular  education 
was  the  adoption,  in  1702,  by  the  General  Assembly,  of  "An 
Act  for  the  Encouragement  of  a  Grammar  Free  School  in  New 

1  Dunshee,  p.  54.    This  school  is  still  flourishing,  being  the  Collegiate  School, 
in  West  Seventy-seventh  street,  which  proudly  traces  its  lineage  back  to  the  little 
school  opened  in  1633  bv  Adam  Roelantsen. 

2  See  Dunshee,  pp.  75,  76. 

3  See  Dunshee,  pp.  56,  57. 


Schools  during  the  British  Colonial  Regime        9 

York  City."  The  Governor  (Lord  Cornbury)  and  Council 
refused  approval  of  the  act  until  it  was  agreed  that  the  teacher 
of  the  proposed  school  should  have  a  license  from  either  the 
Bishop  of  London  or  the  Governor.  "  The  mayor  and  common 
council  were  'to  elect,  choose,  license,  authorize  and  appoint 
one  able,  skilful  and  orthodox  person  to  be  schoolmaster  for 
the  education  of  youth  and  male  children  of  French  and  Dutch 
extraction  as  well  as  English. '  "  *  The  salary  was  fixed  at 
,£50  ($125),  which  was  to  be  raised  by  a  general  tax  for  seven 
years,  when  the  act  expired  by  its  own  terms ;  and  nothing  was 
done  to  extend  it.  The  school  established  in  pursuance  of  this 
act — (the  first  public  English  school  in  the  city- — was  opened 
in  1705,  under  the  care  of  Andrew  Clarke.2  ,'Some  of  the 
authorities  say  that  the  teacher  of  this  school  was  George 
Muirson,  who  was  duly  licensed  by  Governor  Cornbury.  Wil- 
son (Vol.  IV,  pp.  592,  593)  says  that  a  license  was  granted 
to  Muirson  on  April  25,  1704,  the  kind  of  instruction  not  being 
specified,  and  that  Andrew  Clark  (sic)  was  licensed  to  keep  a 
school  and  teach  English,  Latin,  Greek,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 
He  also  mentions  other  private  teachers  as  having  received 
licenses  from  the  Governors  or  the  municipal  authorities. 

"  Although  the  provincial  government  did  nothing,  or  almost 
nothing,  for  popular  education  during  the  whole  time  of  British 
sway  over  the  colonies,  such  education  was  not  wholly  neglected, 
for  while  the  Collegiate  [Dutch  Reformed]  Church  took  care  of 
her  children,  the  Episcopalians  also  did  the  same."  3  In  1710  the 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  sent 
out  William  Huddlestone  as  the  first  master  of  an  Episcopal 
Church  school.4  This  school,  like  that  of  the  Dutch  Reformed 
Church  and  other  schools  established  later,  was  not,  strictly 

1  Wilson,  Vol.  IV,  p.  586. 

2  See  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  by  S.  S.  Randall,  p.  51  ;  also  Dunshee, 
p.  76. 

8  Wilson,  Vol.  IV,  p.  587. 

*  This  school  is  still  in  existence ;  it  is  known  as  Trinity  School,  and  is  situated 
in  West  Ninety-first  street. 


io  The  New  York  Public  School 

speaking,  a  free  school,  as  provision  was  made  by  the  churches 
for  the  education  only  of  the  children  of  their  own  members. 
Free  education  in  the  modern  sense  was  unknown  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years.1 

A  law  was  passed  in  1732  providing  for  a  public  school  in 
New  York,  for  five  years,  in  which  Latin,  Greek,  and  mathe- 
matics were  to  be  taught ;  and  the  Rev.  Alexander  Malcolm  was 
appointed  as  head  master,  with  a  salary  of  ,£110.  The  life  of 
this  school  expired  in  1737,  but  it  was  continued  by  law  for 
another  year,  with  an  increase  in  the  master's  salary  of  ^4O.2 
Wilson  says  that  Malcolm  conducted  a  private  school ;  and  that 
two  years  after  1738  a  special  law  was  passed  to  pay  him  a  balance 
o%ealary  of  £111  *js.  6d.  Dunshee  (p.  76)  speaks  of  the  school 
conducted  by  Malcolm  as  "the  first  free  school"  "established 
by  law,  for  teaching  the  Latin  and  Greek,  and  practical  branches 
of  mathematics,"  and  adds  that  Malcolm's  salary  was  "  £4.0 
per  annum  "  and  that  "  he  remained  seven  years."  This  school 
was  free  for  twenty  pupils,  of  whom  New  York  City  and  County 
were  entitled  to  ten,  Albany  County  to  two,  and  the  counties  of 
Dutchess,  Kings,  Orange,  Queens,  Richmond,  Suffolk,  Ulster, 
and  Westchester  each  to  one.3 

Nothing  else  appears  to  have  been  done,  during  the  exist- 
ence of  the  British  colony,  in  behalf  of  public  education  of  either 
primary  or  secondary  character,  and  children  receiving  instruc- 
tion were  dependent  on  either  church  schools  or  private  schools.4 
In  the  schools  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church  the  Dutch  lan- 
guage alone  was  used,  at  least  for  many  years,  and  as  late  as 
J755  John  Nicholas  Welp  was  brought  over  from  Amsterdam  "  as 

1  Dunshee  states  (p.  76)  that  in  1702  "a  free  grammar  school  was  founded  and 
built  on  the  King's  farm,"  and  that  in  1704  "William  Vesey,  Episcopal  missionary, 
opened  a  catechising  school  for  blacks." 

2  See  Wilson,  Vol.  IV,  p.  586. 

8  See  Cyclopedia  of  Education,  Kiddle  and  Schem,  p.  637. 

4  The  Burghers'  and  Freemen's  List  mentions  for  the  period  from  1695  *°  J774 
the  names  of  thirty-two  schoolmasters  admitted  as  freemen,  and  there  were  evidently 
some  who  did  not  seek  the  privilege.  —  See  Wilson,  Vol.  IV,  p.  593. 


Schools  after  the  Revolutionary  War  n 

chorister  and  reader  in  the  Old  Church,  and  also  as  school- 
master." * 

"  All  the  English  schools  in  the  province  from  1700  down  to 
the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  were  maintained 
by  a  great  religious  society  organized  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and,  of  course,  with  the  favor  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, called  '  The  society  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel 
in  foreign  parts.'  The  law  governing  this  society  provided  that 
no  teacher  should  be  employed  until  he  had  proved  '  his  affection 
to  the  present  government,'  and  his  conformity  to  the  doctrine 
and  discipline  of  the  Church  of  England.'  Schools  maintained 
under  such  auspices  and  influences  were  in  no  sense  free 
schools.  % 

"  Indeed,  as  humiliating  as  it  is,  no  student  of  history  can 
fail  to  discern  the  fact  that  the  Government  of  Great  Britain, 
during  its  supremacy  in  this  territory,  did,  nothing  to  facilitate 
the  extension  or  promote  the  efficiency  of  free  elementary 
schools  among  the  people."  2 

In  1754  King's  College  was  incorporated  by  royal  charter; 
after  the  Revolutionary  War  it  was  reorganized  as  Columbia 
College. 

III.   SCHOOLS  AFTER  THE  REVOLUTIONARY  WAR 

During  the  War  of  the  Revolution  New  York  was  under 
martial  rule,  and  the  transaction  of  business  in  the  city  was 
irregular;  church  services  were  intermitted,  education  was 
suspended,  and  the  schools  and  college  were  closed.  Very 
soon  after  the  end  of  the  war  schools  were  opened  (or 
reopened)  by  the  different  religions  denominations,  depending 
for  their  support  upon  voluntary  contributions  of  church  mem- 
bers ;  and  these  schools  soon  came  to  be  known  as  "  charity 
schools."  The  term  was  not  used  in  a  derogatory  sense,  but 

1  Dunshee,  p.  64.     According  to  the  same  authority  (p.  66),  the  first  sermon  in 
English  was  preached  in  one  of  the  Dutch  churches  in  1764. 

2  Origin  and  Development  of  the  New  York  Common  School  System,  Draper. 


12  The  New  York  Public  School 

merely  to  distinguish  the  schools  maintained  by  the  churches 
(which  were  attended  only  by  children  of  church  members)  from 
the  private  pay  schools  patronized  by  the  well-to-do.  But  no 
means  for  general  education  were  provided  for  upwards  of 
twenty  years,  and  then  only  on  the  most  limited  scale. 

An  important  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  in  1787,  estab- 
lished a  university  in  the  State  "  to  be  called  and  known  by  the 
(  name  and  style  of  *  The  Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State 
of  New  York/  "  and  in  1789  the  Legislature  set  apart  a  portion 
of  the  public  lands  for  "gospel  and  school  purposes."  Governor 
George  Clinton,  in  his  annual  message  to  the  Legislature  in 
1792,  said  :  "As  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  is  essential  to  the 
Qjromotion  of  virtue  and  the  preservation  of  liberty,  the  flourish- 
ing condition  of  our  seminaries  of  learning  must  prove  highly 
satisfactory ;  and  they  will,  I  am  persuaded,  be  among  the  first 
objects  of  your  care  and  patronage,  and  receive,  from  time  to  time, 
such  further  aid  and  encouragement  as  may  be  necessary  for 
their  increasing  prosperity."  In  his  message  for  1795  he  urged 
"the  establishment  of  common  schools  throughout  the  State"; 
and  on  April  9th  in  that  year  a  law  was  passed  "  for  the  pur- 
pose of  encouraging  and  maintaining  schools  in  the  several 
cities  and  towns  in  this  State,  in  which  the  children  of  the 
inhabitants  residing  in  the  State  shall  be  instructed  in  the  Eng- 
lish language,  or  be  taught  English  grammar,  arithmetic,  mathe- 
matics, and  such  other  branches  of  knowledge  as  are  most  useful 
and  necessary  to  complete  a  good  English  education  "  ;  and  the 
annual  sum  of  ,£20,000  was  appropriated  for  five  years  for  their 
support.  It  was  directed  that  the  sum  mentioned  be  paid  to  the 
several  county  treasurers  in  proportion  to  the  population  of  the 
several  counties  and  towns,  which  were  required  to  raise  by  tax 
an  amount  equal  to  one-half  of  the  State  apportionment,  and  the 
entire  sum  was  to  be  applied,  under  the  direction  of  proper 
officers  in  each  school  district,  to  the  payment  of  the  wages  of 
duly  employed  and  properly  qualified  teachers.  This  was  the 
origin  of  the  common  school  system  of  the  State.  "  The  official 


Schools  after  the  Revolutionary   War  13 

returns  for  the  year  1 798  —  the  only  year  in  which  even  partial 
detailed  reports  were  forwarded  —  show  that  in  sixteen  out  of  the 
twenty-three  counties  of  the  State,  there  were  1352  schools  in 
successful  operation,  in  which  59,660  children  were  under 
instruction  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  during  the  year."  *  In 
1800  a  law,  entitled  "  An  act  for  the  encouragement  of  litera- 
ture," was  passed,  directing  the  raising,  by  lotteries  under  the 
control  of  managers  named  in  the  act,  of  $100,000,  $12,500  of 
which  was  to  be  apportioned  by  the  Regents  of  the  University 
among  academies,  and  the  remainder  "  applied  in  such  manner, 
for  the  encouragement  of  common  schools,  as  the  Legislature 
may,  from  time  to  time,  direct." 

While  something  was  thus  being  done  by  the  State  for  public 
instruction,  the  work  of  educating  children  not  provided  for  by 
the  church  (charity)  schools  in  this  city  was  taken  in  hand  to  a 
certain  extent  by  benevolent  associations.  In  1785  the  Society 
for  Promoting  the  Manumission  of  Slaves  and  for  Protecting 
such  of  them  as  have  been  or  may  be  Liberated  (commonly 
called  the  Manumission  Society)  was  organized  for  the  purpose 
of  "  mitigating  the  evils  of  slavery,  to  defend  the  rights  of  the 
blacks,  and  especially  to  give  them  the  elements  of  education." 
A  number  of  prominent  citizens  were  interested  in  this  move- 
ment, among  them  Alexander  Hamilton  and  John  Jay,  the  latter 
being  the  first  president  of  the  Society.  £A  free  school  for 
colored  children,  with  twelve  pupils,  was  opened  by  the  Society 
in  November,  17877 a  room  for  the  purpose  being  furnished  by 
the  teacher,2  and  m  February,  1788,  twenty-nine  pupils  were  in 
attendance.  Unavailing  steps  were  taken  in  1791  and  succeed- 
ing years  to  erect  a  building  for  the  school.  In  1794  the  school 
was  incorporated  as  the  African  Free  School,  and  two  or  three 
years  later  a  small  schoolhouse  was  built  in  Cliff  street.  In 

1  History  of  the  Common  School  System  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Randall,  p.  9. 

2  Cornelius  Davis,  who  gave  up  a  school  of  white  children  to  enter  on  this  work. 
There  were  then  in  the  city  about  four  thousand  negroes  ;  the  census  of  1805  showed 
1960  free  colored  persons  and  2048  slaves. 


14  The  New  York  Public  School 

January,  1797,  there  were  122  pupils  registered  (63  boys  and  59 
girls),  with  an  average  attendance  of  about  80.  Small  grants 
were  made  to  the  school  by  the  Corporation  of  the  city  in  1797, 
1798,  and  1800,  and  in  1801  the  Legislature  made  an  apportion- 
ment to  it  of  $1565.78.  In  1808  the  Society  itself  was  incor- 
porated. The  location  of  the  school  in  Cliff  street  proved  in  the 
course  of  time  to  be  unsatisfactory,  and  in  1812,  in  response  to 
an  appeal  from  the  Society,  the  city  Corporation  granted  it  a 
piece  of  property  in  William  street,  near  Duane,  on  which  a 
suitable  building  was  erected.  A  second  schoolhouse  was  built 
in  Mulberry  street,  near  Grand,  in  1820,  and  several  other 
schools  were  established  later  by  the  Society  in  hired  rooms. 
All  the  schools  of  the  Manumission  Society  were  taken  over  by 
the  Public  School  Society  in  1834  (see  Chapter  XI). 

It  is  a  somewhat  curious  fact  that  a  free  school  for  colored 
children  was  established  in  New  York  City  before  any  free 
school  for  white  children,  in  the  true  meaning  of  the  words, 
existed.  The  first  school  for  the  latter  was  opened  in  1801  by 
the  Association  of  Women  Friends  for  the  Relief  of  the  Poor 
(generally  known  as  the  Female  Association),  which  had  been 
organized  in  1798  by  a  group  of  benevolent  women  connected 
with  the  Society  of  Friends.  The  necessity  of  a  school  was 
soon  perceived,  and  in  the  year  last  mentioned  it  was  decided  to 
establish  a  school  for  the  education  of  poor  children  "  whose 
parents  belong  to  no  religious  society,  and  who,  from  some 
cause  or  other,  cannot  be  admitted  into  any  of  the  charity 
schools  of  this  city."  The  school  was  first  attended  by  children 
of  both  sexes,  but  after  a  short  trial  the  boys  were  discharged 
and  only  girls  admitted.  During  the  first  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  a  number  of  schools  were  carried  on  by  the 
Female  Association,  the  total  attendance  in  1823  being  about 
750.  They  were  permitted  to  share  in  the  Common  School 
Fund  until  the  change  in  the  law  made  in  1824  (see  Chapter 
VI),  and  accommodations  for  some  of  them  were  furnished  by 
the  Free  School  Society,  as  will  appear  in  later  chapters  of 


Schools  after  the  Revolutionary   War  15 

this  history.  When,  by  the  operation  of  the  law  just  referred 
to,  further  aid  from  the  public  funds  was  cut  off,1  the  Associa- 
tion confined  its  efforts  to  a  so-called  infant  school,  which  was 
conducted  in  the  building  of  Public  School  No.  5  from  1830  to 
1845,  when  it  was  taken  over  by  the  Public  School  Society. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  spirit  of 
popular  education  was,  so  to  speak,  "  in  the  air,"  and  two  events 
of  far-reaching  importance  were  about  to  take  place :  the  enact- 
ment of  a  law  providing  the  foundation  for  a  permanent  Common 
School  Fund,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Free  School  Society 
in  this  city.  These  events  render  the  year  1805  memorable  in 
the  educational  history  of  the  State. 

1  "The  'Female  Association'  was  excluded  at  the  same  time  [1825],  though  it 
received  all  children  from  every  persuasion,  and  inculcated  no  particular  tenets, 
because  it  was  chiefly  under  the  patronage  of  individuals  connected  with  the  Society 
of  Friends."  —  Address  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society,  May  6,  1831. 


CHAPTER   II     Lr- 

ORIGIN   OF  THE   FREE   SCHOOL   SOCIETY 

/* 

THE  year  1805  may  be  considered  as  marking  the  beginning 

of  the  real  movement  for  the  establishment  of  free  schools  in 
New  York  City.  In  that  year  an  association,  which  in  a  short 
time  came  to  be  known  as  the  Free  School  Society,  was  organ- 
ized. It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  its  founders 
contemplated  a  system  of  free  popular  education  in  the  sense 
in  which  those  words  are  now  used.  Far  from  it.  They 
builded  better  than  they  knew.  Their  purpose  at  the  beginning 
was  merely  to  establish  a  single  school  for  the  benefit  of  poor 
children  not  provided  for  by  the  schools  maintained  by  the 
various  churches,  as  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter./ 

The  population  of  the  city,  according  to  the  census  of  1805, 
was  75,770,  and  there  were  one  hundred  and  forty-one  teachers 
employed  in  the  private  and  church  (or  charity)  schools.1 
From  Longworth's  Directory,  1805,  we  learn  that 

"  There  are  Charity  Schools  attached  to  many  of  the  churches  in  the  city, 
where  the  children  of  the  poor  members  receive  instruction  and  clothing 
gratis.  The  most  considerable  are  those  of  Trinity,  the  Dutch,  the  Presby- 
terian, and  the  Roman  Catholic  Churches.  The  scholars  on  the  Trinity 
establishment  amount  to  86 :  those  on  the  Dutch,  to  about  70  :  those  on  the 
Presbyterian,  to  50 :  and  those  on  the  Roman  Catholic,  to  100.  There  is  a 
free-school  for  black  children,  established  by  the  Friends ;  but  of  the  number 
of  scholars  taught  in  this,  as  well  as  in  the  Methodist  and  other  charity 
schools,  though  considerable,  we  have  yet  no  account." 

Longworth  adds  in  a  footnote,  referring  to  the  "  scholars 
on  the  Trinity  establishment,"  that  the  boys  are  taught  reading, 

1  "In  1805  there  were  in  the  city  141  teachers,  106  of  whom  were  males,  and  35 
females." — Public  Education  in  the  City  of  New  York,  Boese,  p.  24. 

16 


Origin  of  the  Free  School  Society  17 

writing,  arithmetic,  and  merchants'  accounts,  and  the  girls, 
reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  and  needlework,  and  further  says, 
"  They  are  annually  cloathed,  supplied  with  fuel,  and  furnished 
with  books,  paper,  etc."~~  Mrs.  Lamb  says  that  in  1805  there 
were  141  teachers,  and  that  nearly  every  church  had  a  school, 
"  and  other  charity  free  schools  and  private  schools  abounded  " 
(Vol.  II,  p.  515).  Nevertheless  a  considerable  number  of 
children  were  without  any  educational  opportunities,  and  were 
growing  up  in  absolute  ignorance.1  That  these  children  would 
prove  a  source  of  danger  to  the  community  was  recognized 
by  at  least  a  few  philanthropic  and  far-sighted  citizens,  who 
resolved  that  something  should  be  done  for  their  improvement. 
The  school  for  girls  conducted  by  the  Female  Association, 
some  account  of  which  has  already  been  given,  pointed  the  way, 
and  suggested  the  establishment  of  similar  schools  for  other 
poor  children. 

"  To  extend  the  benefits  of  education  to  the  numerous  class 
of  poor  children,  who  were  excluded  from  the  various  charity- 
schools  already  established,  had  long  been  an  object  of  anxious 
desire  with  several  philanthropic  characters  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  At  the  request  of  two  or  three  individuals,  whose  atten- 
tion had  been  particularly  directed  to  the  subject,  a  meeting 
was  called  of  such  persons,  as  were  likely  to  promote  the 
accomplishment  of  so  desirable  an  object."2 

r  "In  the  second  year  of  the  century,"  says  Wilson,  "an 
association  of  ladies  belonging  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  or 
Quakers,  had  contributed  of  their  private  means,  and  estab- 
lished a  free  school  for  the  education  of  girls.  This  humble 
but  noble  endeavor  was  the  germ  of  the  great  metropolitan 
system  of  public  schools  to-day.  .  .  .  The  free  school  for 
girls  had  been  three  years  in  operation  when  the  idea  of  extend- 

1  The  reports  of  the  Free  School  Society  a  few  years  later,  however,  speak  with 
gratification  of  the  large  number  of  children  in  its  schools  who  regularly  attended 
church  services,  and  specify  the  denominations  with  which  they  were  affiliated. 

2  An  Account  of  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Free  School  Society,  1814. 

c 


1 8  The  New   York  Public  School 

ing  the  principle  at  its  foundation  took  practical  shape.  No 
doubt,  as  in  all  such  cases,  men  had  talked  and  deliberated. 
The  necessity  was  so  pressing,  the  calamity  of  ignorance  so 
appalling,  that  the  problem  of  removing  the  crying  shame  could 
not  be  set  aside  or  postponed"  (Vol.  Ill,  pp.  165,  166). 

"  True  it  is  that  charity  schools,  entitled  to  eminent  praise, 
were  established  in  this  city ;  but  they  were  attached  to  par- 
ticular sects,  and  did  not  embrace  children  of  different  persua- 
sions. Add  to  this  that  some  denominations  were  not  provided 
with  these  establishments,  and  that  children  the  most  in  want 
of  instruction  were  necessarily  excluded,  by  the  irreligion  of 
their  parents,  from  the  benefit  of  education. 

"  After  a  full  view  of  the  case,  those  persons  of  whom  I 
have  spoken  agreed  that  the  evil  must  be  corrected  at  its  source, 
and  that  education  was  the  sovereign  prescription."  * 
/  Accordingly,  at  the  request  of  two  public-spirited  citizens, 
Thomas  Eddy  and  John  Murray,  Jr.,  a  few  persons  known  to 
be  interested  in  the  subject  were  called  together  to  discuss  it. 
The  meeting  at  which  was  taken  the  initial  step  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  free  schools  in  this  city  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Mr.  Murray,  in  Pearl  street,  on  Monday,  the  iQth  of  February, 
1805.  It  was  attended  by  twelve  persons,  as"  follows  :  Samuel 
Osgood,  Brockholst  Livingston,  John  Murray,  Jr.,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Miller,  Joseph  Constant,  Thomas  Eddy,  Thomas  Pear- 
sail,  Thomas  Franklin,  General  Matthew  Clarkson,  Leonard 
Bleecker,  Samuel  Russell,  and  William  Edgar.  It  is  noticeable 
that  De  Witt  Clinton,  at  that  time  Mayor  of  the  city,  whose 
name  was  so  intimately  identified  with  the  free  school  move- 
ment until  his  death,  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  later,  was 
not  present  at  the  original  meeting. 

The  persons  attending  appear  to  have  been  of  one  mind,  and 
decided,  without  loss  of  time,  that  the  right  method  of  counter- 
acting the  evils  of  ignorance,  and  the  vice  inseparable  from  it, 

1  From  the  address  delivered  by  De  Witt  Clinton  at  the  opening  of  the  new 
building  of  Free  School  No.  I,  December  n,  1809. 


Origin  of  the  Free  School  Society  19 

was  by  the  establishment  of  a  school  for  the  education  of 
children  not  already  provided  with  means  of  instruction.  A 
committee  was  appointed  to  devise  a  plan  for  carrying  this 
benevolent  project  into  effect.  With  commendable  promptness 
the  committee  presented  its  report  at  a  second  meeting  held  a 
few  days  later.  The  report  recommended  that  a  memorial  be 
addressed  to  the  Legislature,  asking  that  body  to  pass  an  act 
incorporating  an  association  under  the  name  of  "  The  Society 
for  establishing  a  Free  School  in  the  City  of  New  York." 

No  record  can  be  found  of  the  date  of  the  second  meeting. 
As  the  memorial  is  dated  February  25th,  only  six  days  after  the 
first  meeting,  the  second  must  have  been  held  within  the  week. 
It  is  possible  that  the  memorial  was  ready  for  presentation  at 
the  second  meeting,  and  received  its  first  signatures  then  and 
there.  The  memorial  was  signed  by  about  one  hundred  citi- 
zens of  the  highest  character  and  influence,  representing  the 
different  religious  societies  and  various  callings  and  professions. 
As  indicative  of  the  pure  motives  underlying  the  movement,  a 
part  of  the  memorial  may  here  be  reproduced : 

"  Your  memorialists  have  viewed  with  painful  anxiety  the  multiplied  evils 
which  have  accrued,  and  are  daily  accruing,  to  this  city,  from  the  neglected 
education  of  the  children  of  the  poor.  They  allude  more  particularly  to  that 
description  of  children  who  do  not  belong  to,  or  are  not  provided  for,  by  any 
religious  society :  and  who,  therefore,  do  not  partake  of  the  advantages  aris- 
ing from  the  different  Charity  Schools  established  by  the  various  religious 
societies  of  this  city.  The  condition  of  this  class  is  deplorable  indeed ;  reared 
up  by  parents  who,  from  a  variety  of  concurring  circumstances,  are  become 
either  indifferent  to  the  best  interests  of  their  offspring,  or,  through  intemperate 
lives,  are  rendered  unable  to  defray  the  expense  of  their  instruction,  these 
miserable  and  almost  friendless  objects  are  ushered  upon  the  stage  of  life, 
inheriting  those  vices  which  idleness  and  the  bad  example  of  their  parents 
naturally  produce.  The  consequences  of  this  neglect  of  education  are  igno- 
rance and  vice,  and  all  those  manifold  evils  resulting  from  every  species  of 
immorality,  by  which  public  hospitals  and  alms-houses  are  filled  with  objects 
of  disease  and  poverty,  and  society  burthened  with  taxes  for  their  support. 
In  addition  to  these  melancholy  facts,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  laboring  class 
in  the  community  is  becoming  less  industrious,  less  moral,  and  less  careful  to 


so  The  New  York  Public  School 

lay  up  the  fruit  of  their  earnings.  What  can  this  alarming  declension  have 
arisen  from,  but  the  existence  of  an  error  which  has  ever  been  found  to  pro- 
duce a  similar  effect  —  a  want  of  a  virtuous  education,  especially  at  that  early 
period  of  life  when  the  impressions  that  are  made  generally  stamp  the  future 
character  ? 

"  The  rich  having  ample  means  of  educating  their  offspring,  it  must  be 
apparent  that  the  laboring  poor  —  a  class  of  citizens  so  evidently  useful  —  have 
a  superior  claim  to  public  support.  .  .  . 

"  Trusting  that  the  necessity  of  providing  suitable  means  for  the  preven- 
tion of  the  evils  they  have  enumerated  will  be  apparent  to  your  honorable 
Body,  your  memorialists  respectfully  request  the  patronage  and  assistance  of 
the  Legislature  in  establishing  a  free  school,  or  schools,  in  this  city,  for  the 
benevolent  purpose  of  affording  education  to  those  unfortunate  children  who 
have  no  other  mode  of  obtaining  it." 

(  The  signers  of  the  memorial,  besides  soliciting  the  incor- 
poration of  a  society  as  named  above,  petitioned  the  Legis- 
lature to  grant  such  pecuniary  aid  or  endowment  as  might  be 
"deemed  proper  for  the  promotion  of  the  benevolent  object" 
in  view. 

So  favorable  was  the  impression  made  by  this  appeal  that 
the  Legislature,  on  the  Qth  of  April  (1805),  passed  an  act 
entitled  "  An  Act  to  incorporate  the  society  instituted  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  for  the  establishment  of  a  free  school,  for  the 
education  of  poor  children,  who  do  not  belong  to  or  are  not  pro- 
vided for  by  any  religious  society."  No  pecuniary  assistance 
was  granted.  Its  elaborate  and  minutely  specific  title  sufficiently 
indicates  the  purpose  of  the  Society  and  the  field  it  was  intended 
to  occupy.  The  incorporators  named  in  the  act  were  De  Witt 
Clinton,  Samuel  Osgood,  Brockholst  Livingston,  John  Murray, 
Jr.,  Jacob  Morton,  Samuel  Miller,  Joseph  Constant,  Thomas 
Eddy,  Thomas  Pearsall,  Robert  Bowne,  Matthew  Clarkson, 
Archibald  Gracie,  John  McVickar,  Charles  Wilkes,  Henry  Ten 
Brook,  Gilbert  Aspinwall,  Valentine  Seaman,  William  Johnson, 
William  Coit,  Matthew  Franklin,  Adrian  Hegeman,  Benjamin 
G.  Minturn,  Leonard  Bleecker,  Thomas  Franklin,  Samuel  Rus- 
sell, Samuel  Doughty,  Alexander  Robertson,  Samuel  Torbert, 
John  Withington,  William  Edgar,  George  Turnbull,  Daniel  D. 


Origin  of  the  Free  School  Society  21 

Tompkins,    William    Boyd,    Jacob    Molt,     Benjamin     Egbert, 
Thomas  Farmer,  and  Samuel  L.  Mitchill. 

(  That  1805  was  a  day  of  small  things,  as  compared  with  the 
present,  is  shown  by  a  provision  in  the  act  limiting  the  yearly 
income  of  the  Society  to  ten  thousand  dollars.  / 

The  twelve  men  who  attended  the  first  meeting,  together 
with  De  Witt  Clinton,  were  named  in  the  act  as  the  first  Board 
of  Trustees,  to  hold  office  until  the  1st  of  May  following.  The 
act  further  provided  that  a  person  contributing  $8  should  be  a 
member  of  the  Society;  one  contributing  $25,  a  member  with 
the  privilege  of  sending  one  child  to  any  school  established  by 
the  Society;  and  one  subscribing  $40,  a  member  with  the  right 
to  send  two  children  to  any  such  school. 

In  pursuance  of  the  act  of  incorporation,  Trustees  were 
duly  elected  on  May  6,  1805,  and  the  Board  was  organized  as 
follows : 

DE  WITT  CLINTON,  President 
JOHN  MURRAY,  JR.,  Vice-President 
LEONARD  BLEECKER,  Treasurer 
BENJAMIN  D.  PERKINS,  Secretary 
GILBERT  ASPINWALL  ADRIAN  HEGEMAN 

THOMAS  EDDY  WILLIAM  JOHNSON 

THOMAS  FRANKLIN  SAMUEL  MILLER 

MATTHEW  FRANKLIN  BENJAMIN  G.  MINTURN 

HENRY  TEN  BROOK 

The  Board  decided  to  make  an  immediate  appeal  to  the 
public  for  funds  to  enable  it  to  begin  its  important  work. 
Accordingly,  an  "Address  to  the  Public"  was  prepared  and 
widely  circulated,  setting  forth  at  some  length  the  aims  of  the 
originators  of  the  movement.  Only  one  school  was  contem- 
plated, specific  mention  being  made  of  "  the  school,  and  the 
rules  for  its  discipline  and  management."  A  noteworthy  fea- 
ture of  the  address  is  the  statement  that  "  It  is  proposed,  also,  to 
establish,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  a  school,  called  a  Sunday 
School,  more  particularly  for  such  children  as,  from  peculiar 
circumstances,  are  unable  to  attend  on  the  other  days  of  the 


22  The  New  York  Public  School 

week.  In  this,  as  in  the  Common  School,  it  will  be  a  primary 
object,  without  observing  the  peculiar  forms  of  any  religious 
Society,  to  inculcate  the  sublime  truths  of  religion  and  morality 
contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures."  *  The  Society  distinctly  dis- 
claimed any  intention  of  interfering  with  any  existing  institution, 
and  appealed  to  its  name  as  a  guarantee.  The  Trustees  looked 
"with  confidence  for  the  encouragement  and  support  of  the 
afHuent  and  charitable  of  every  denomination  of  Christians  "  ; 
and  closed  their  address  by  stating  that,  "  in  addition  to  the 
respectable  list  of  original  subscriptions,"  a  considerable  fund 
would  be  needed  to  purchase  or  hire  a  piece  of  ground,  erect 
a  suitable  building,  pay  teachers,  and  defray  other  necessary 
expenses.  An  appeal  was,  therefore,  made  to  "  the  voluntary 
bounty  of  those  who  may  be  charitably  disposed  to  contribute 
their  aid  in  the  promotion  of  an  object  of  great  and  universal 
concern." 

The  address,  which  was  signed  by  all  the  Trustees,  was 
printed  in  the  newspapers  of  the  city  and  distributed  in  the  form 
of  a  circular.  The  community  was  slow  in  responding,  and  more 
than  twelve  months  elapsed  before  a  sufficient  sum  was  collected 
to  justify  the  Trustees  in  opening  their  school.  , 

The  original  "  Subscription  Book  of  the  New  York  Free 
School  Society,"  which  is  preserved  among  the  archives  of  the 
Society  placed  in  the  custody  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
when  the  Public  School  Society  was  dissolved,  in  1853,  is  a 
document  of  rare  interest.  [The  first  name  on  the  list  is  that  of 
De  Witt  Clinton,  whose  subscription  of  $200  is  far  larger  than 
any  that  follow]  There  are  a  few  subscriptions  of  $50,  and 
several  of  $40,  but  the  majority  contributed  no  more  than  $25 
each.  Many  names  distinguished  in  the  history  of  New  York 
are  to  be  found  here.  Indeed,  it  has  been  said  that  to  read  this 
subscription  book  is  like  reading  an  elite  directory  of  the  city  in 
the  first  decade  of  the  last  century./  At  the  further  end  of  the 

1  This  plan  was  not  carried  out,  but  the  buildings  of  the  Society  were  used  by 
various  churches  for  Sunday-school  purposes. 


FACSIMILE     OF     FIRST    PAGE    OF    FREE    SCHOOL    SOCIETY'S    SUB- 
SCRIPTION   BOOK.    1805 


Origin  of  the  Free  School  Society  23 

book  $8  subscriptions  were  entered,  thirty-six  in  all,  and  one  of 
$10,  $298  being  there  recorded.  Most  of  the  $8  subscriptions 
were,  presumably,  to  be  renewed  annually,  but  one  thrifty  citizen, 
John  Suydam,  took  pains  to  write  "  Eight  Dollars  for  the  present 
year  only."  The  total  amount  entered  in  the  subscription  book 
was  $6501. 


CHAPTER   III 
THE  FREE   SCHOOL  SOCIETY'S  FIRST    SCHOOL  OPENED  ^ 

JUST  a  year  after  putting  forth  its  "  Address  to  the  Public  " 
the  Free  School  Society  opened  its  first  school,  on  the  iQth  of 
May,  I8O6,1  in  "  a  small  apartment,"  2  in  Bancker  (now  Madison) 
street,  near  Pearl.  The  attendance  on  the  opening  day  is  not 
given,  but  we  are  told  that  in  a  few  days  the  school  contained 
forty-two  scholars.3  They  were  in  charge  of  William  Smith,  who 
is  spoken  of  as  a  well-qualified  teacher. 

On  May  I4th  the  following  advertisement  appeared  in 
several  of  the  daily  papers,  and  ran  for  two  weeks: 

"FREE  SCHOOL. 

"  The  Trustees  of  the  Society  for  establishing  a  Free  School  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  for  the  education  of  such  poor  children  as  do  not  belong  to,  or 
are  not  provided  for  by  any  religious  Society,  having  engaged  a  Teacher,  and 
procured  a  School  House  for  the  accommodation  of  a  School,  have  now  the 
pleasure  of  announcing  that  it  is  proposed  to  receive  scholars  of  the  descrip- 
tions alluded  to  without  delay ;  applications  may  be  made  to  either  of  the 
subscribers,  viz. 

"John  Murray,  }un. 

"  Henry  Ten  Brook. 

"Garrit  H.  Van  Wagenen." 

1  This  is  the  date  given  in  the  Account  of  the  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Free  School 
Society,  published  by  the  Society  in  1814,  and  also  in  Mr.  Bourne's  History.     The 
I  yth  of  May  is  the  date  named  in  A  Sketch  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Public 
School  Society,  attached  to  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Society  for  1842,  and  reprinted 
with  additions  in  the  Annual  Report  for  1848  ;   May  iyth  is  also  given  in  Mr.  Boese's 
History,  and  in  Kiddle  and  Schem's  Cyclopedia  of  Education.     May  19,  1806,  fell  on 
Monday,  and  is  undoubtedly  the  correct  date. 

2  See  Account,  1814.     Mr.  Boese  (p.  29)  quotes  from  an  earlier  Account  the 
statement  that  this  "apartment"  was  "  in  the  old  Mission  House."^   A  similar  state- 
ment is  made  in  Lossing's  History  of  New  York  City,  Vol.  I,  p.  303. 

3  See  Account,  1814  j  also  Annual  Report  for  1831,  p.  2. 

24 


Free  School  Society's  First  School  Opened        25 

Careful  inquiries  made  by  the  Trustees  had  caused  them  to 
be  very  favorably  impressed  by  the  system  of  instruction  intro- 
duced a  few  years  before  in  England  by  Joseph  Lancaster.  To 
quote  the  Account  already  mentioned  more  than  once,  "  A  mode 
of  teaching  the  elementary  parts  of  learning,  as  novel  in  its 
principles,  as  it  is  successful  in  its  practical  results,  had  been 
recently  adopted  in  Great  Britain.  It  was  the  discovery  of 
Joseph  Lancaster,  who  was  then  superintending,  in  London, 
a  school  of  about  one  thousand  children,  with  extraordinary 
success.  Economy  in  expense,  and  facility  and  expedition  in 
communicating  instruction,  were  the  characteristic  distinctions 
of  this  system.  It  comprehended  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 
metic. The  scholars  themselves  were  made  the  instruments  of 
their  own  instruction.  A  school  was  divided  into  classes  of  ten 
or  fifteen  scholars,  who  were  placed  under  the  care  and  direction 
of  a  monitor,  and  he  was  himself  a  scholar  in  a  class  of  a  superior 
grade." 

The  so-called  Lancasterian  or  monitorial  system  had  great 
popularity  for  many  years,  and  was  employed  by  the  Free  School 
Society  and  the  Public  School  Society,  albeit  with  some  modifi- 
cations from  time  to  time,  throughout  their  existence.  It  was 
also  used  in  many  other  schools.  "  The  Lancasterian  system  of 
instruction  was,  by  the  organization  of  this  school,"  says  Mr. 
Bourne,  "  transplanted  to  the  Western  world,  and  for  many  years 
was  almost  universally  adopted  in  large  schools  of  even  the 
higher  classes  of  pay  schools"  (p.  10).  One  feature  which 
appealed  most  strongly  to~ifs  advocates  was  economy  in  opera- 
tion. Only  one  teacher  was  employed  in  a  school  of  four  or  five 
hundred  children,  and  the  annual  cost  of  instruction  per  capita 
was  in  some  years  less  than  three  dollars.  Mr.  Randall  says : 

"  This  system,  which  for  a  period  of  nearly  twenty  years  enjoyed  so  great 
a  share  of  popularity,  both  in  England  and  this  country,  appears  to  have  had 
its  origin  in  the^lission  Schools  of  Madras,  in  India,  from  whence  it  was  trans- 
planted to  England  about  the  year T^g,  by  Dr.  Andrew  Bell,  a  clergyman  of 
the  Church  of  England.  From  his  instructions  and  practice,  Joseph  Lancaster, 


26  The  New  York  Public  School 

a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  was  enabled,  soon  afterward,  to  open  a 
school  in  the  Borough  Road,  near  London,  for  its  practical  illustration,  which, 
in  1805,  was  visited  by  one  of  the  members  of  the  New  York  Free  School 
Society.  This  gentleman  was  so  strongly  impressed  with  its  advantages,  that 
on  his  return  he  at  once  procured  its  adoption  in  the  schools  of  the  Society. 
So  successful  was  the  experiment,  that  the  most  intelligent  minds  of  the  coun- 
try became  speedily  enlisted  in  its  favor  and  interested  in  its  general  extension." 1 

In  the  fore  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Lancasterian 
system  was  regarded  by  many  persons  of  intelligence  as  a  uni- 
versal panacea  for  ignorance  and  a  heaven-sent  means  of  educat- 
ing poor  children  in  cities.  In  1806  Mr.  Lancaster  had  been 
for  several  years  conducting  a  school  in  London  with  great  suc- 
cess, having  under  his  direction,  on  the  average,  one  thousand 
or  more  pupils,  and  his  fame  had  become  world-wide.  How 
this  system  was  viewed  at  that  time,  and  later,  may  be  judged 
from  some  extracts  from  an  address  made  by  De  Witt  Clinton 
in  1809  : 

"  Upon  this  system,  Lancaster  superintended  in  person  a  school  of  one 
thousand  scholars,  at  an  annual  expense  of  three  hundred  pounds  sterling. 
In  1806,  he  proposed,  by  establishing  twenty  or  thirty  schools  in  different  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  to  educate  ten  thousand  poor  children,  at  four  shillings  per 
annum  each.  This  proposition  has  been  carried  into  effect,  and  he  has  suc- 
ceeded in  establishing  twenty  schools  in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom,  all  of 
which  are  under  the  care  of  teachers,  educated  by  him,  few  of  whom  are 
more  than  eighteen  years  old.  Several  of  the  schools  have  each  about  three 
hundred  scholars  —  that  at  Manchester  has  four  hundred  —  his  great  school 
in  Borough-Road,  London,  flourishes  very  much  —  it  has  sometimes  eleven 
hundred  children — seldom  less  than  one  thousand. 

"When  I  perceive  that  many  boys  in  our  school  have  been  taught  to 
read  and  write  in  two  months,  who  did  not  before  know  the  alphabet,  and 
that  even  one  has  accomplished  it  in  three  weeks  —  when  I  view  all  the  bear- 
ings and  tendencies  of  this  system  —  when  I  contemplate  the  habits  of  order 
which  it  forms,  the  spirit  of  emulation  which  it  excites  —  the  rapid  improve- 
ment which  it  produces  —  the  purity  of  morals  which  it  inculcates  —  when  I 
behold  the  extraordinary  union  of  celerity  in  instruction,  and  economy  of  ex- 
pense —  and  when  I  perceive  one  great  assembly  of  a  thousand  children,  under 
the  eye  of  a  single  teacher,  marching  with  unexampled  rapidity,  and  with  per- 

1  History  of  the  Common  School  System  of  the.  State  of  New  York,  p.  28. 


Free  School  Society's  First  School  Opened        27 

t 

feet  discipline,  to  the  goal  of  knowledge,  I  confess  that  I  recognize  in  Lancas- 
ter the  benefactor  of  the  human  race  —  I  consider  his  system  as  creating  a 
new  era  in  education,  as  a  blessing  sent  down  from  Heaven  to  redeem  the 
poor  and  distressed  of  this  world  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  ignorance. wl 

That  Governor  Clinton  was  of  the  same  opinion  a  few  years 
later  is  clear  from  the  following  excerpt  from  his  message  to 
the  Legislature  in  1818: 

"  Having  participated  in  the  first  establishment  of  the  Lancasterian  sys- 
tem in  this  country ;  having  carefully  observed  its  progress  and  witnessed  its 
benefits,  I  can  confidently  recommend  it  as  an  invaluable  improvement,  which, 
by  wonderful  combination  of  economy  in  expense  and  rapidity  of  instruction, 
has  created  a  new  era  in  education.  The  system  operates  with  the  same 
efficacy  in  education  as  labor-saving  machinery"  does  in  the  useful  arts." 2 

Governor  Clinton  in  his  last  message,  at  the  opening  of  the 
legislative  session  of  1828  (about  one  month  before  his  death), 
recurred  to  the  subject,  and  recommended  "  a  law  authorizing 
the  supervisors  of  each  county  to  raise  a  sum  not  exceeding 
two  thousand  dollars,  provided  the  same  sum  is  subscribed  by 
individuals,  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  edifice  for  a  Monitorial 
High  School  in  the  county  town." 

A  Manual  of  the  Lancasterian  System,  issued  by  the  Free 
School  Society  in  1820,  contains  much  interesting  information 
as  to  the  methods  pursued  and  the  apparatus  employed.  A 
brief  outline  will  not  be  without  interest,  and  is  really  necessary 
for  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  work  of  the  Free  School 
Society  and  its  successor. 

For  the  youngest  children  a  sand  table  was  provided,  about 
fifteen  feet  long  and  six  inches  wide.  The  table  was  divided 
longitudinally  into  two  parts,  one-half  being  set  off  so  as  to 
form  a  shallow  tray,  with  an  enclosing  rail  or  ledge  about  an 

1  From  the  address  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the  new  building  of  Free  School 
No.  I,  December  n,  1809. 

2  In  the  annual  report  of  Gideon  Hawley,  the  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  for  this  year  (1818),  "the  Lancasterian  system  of  instruction  was  fully 
indorsed,  and  its  advantages  were  pointed  out  at  great  length."  —  See  History  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  Randall,  p.  203. 


28  The  New  York  Public  School 

inch  in  height.  The  bottom  of  this  tray  was  stained  or  painted 
black,  and  over  it  was  spread  a  thin  coating  of  sand.  The 
table  was  provided  with  a  "  sand-smoother,"  made  of  sole 
leather,  into  the  edge  of  which  three  notches  were  cut,  so  that, 
when  used,  the  smoother  left  three  ridges  or  rules  the  entire 
length  of  the  table.  In  sand  thus  ruled  the  beginners  were 
taught  to  form  letters,  each  using  a  stick  about  the  thickness 
of  a  quill  and  four  inches  long.1 

fjn  the  Lancasterian  system  the  letters  were  divided  into 
three  parts  or  groups  —  the  perpendicular,  the  triangular,  and 
the  circular^/  The  letters  were  displayed  on  "  alphabet  boards," 
which  were  placed  near  the  ceiling  of  the  schoolroom.  The 
little  folk  were  not  required  to  work  at  the  sand  table  continu- 
ously, but  several  times  a  day  they  were  called  from  their  seats 
and  formed  in  a  circle  round  a  lesson  which  was  printed  in  large 
letters  and  suspended  by  a  nail  to  the  wall  so  that  all  could  see  it. 
"  This  exercise,"  the  Manual  quaintly  says,  "  perfects  them  in 
the  knowledge  of  their  letters,  and  is  also  a  pleasing  relaxation." 
Besides  the  alphabet  boards,  twenty-six  feet  long  and  three 
broad,  painted  black,  upon  which  were  written  large  and  small 
letters  in  two  lines  in  white,  and  also  the  nine  digits,  there  were 
lesson  boards  of  two  sizes  for  the  older  scholars;  the  larger 
being  reading  boards,  on  which  were  pasted  the  spelling,  read- 
ing, and  arithmetic  lessons.  These  were  suspended  round  the 
room  upon  round-headed  nails.  The  smaller,  or  dictating, 
boards  were  hung  "in  a  convenient  place  near  the  platform."3 

1  The  use  of  sand  was  continued  in  the  schools  of  the  Society  as  long  as  they 
existed.    The  later  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  contain  two  interesting  references 
to  the  matter.     July  7,  1848:  "On  motion,  the  expediency  of  abolishing  the  use  of 
sand  in  our  schools  was  referred  to  the  Executive  Committee  with  power."    On  October 
3,  1851,  a  recommendation  of  the  Committee  of  Supplies  was  adopted  that  the  allow- 
ance of  sand  for  the  schools  be  one  load  each  per  annum,  except  in  special  cases. 

2  The  perpendicular  letters  were  I,  H,  T,  L,  E,  F,  i,  and  1 ;   the  triangular,  A,  V, 
W,  M,  N,  Z,  K,  Y,  X,  v,  w,  k,  y,  z,  x  ;  the  circular,  O,  U,  C,  J,  G,  D,  P,  B,  R,  3,  S, 
a,  o,  b,  d,  p,  q,  c,  g,  m,  n,  h,  t,  u,  r,  s,  f,  j. 

3  In  April,  1821,  a  committee  of  two  Trustees  was  appointed  "to  procure  such 
new  lessons  for  the  schools  as  may  be  necessary,  and  to  have  them  varnished." 


Free  School  Society's  First  School  Opened        29 

The  school  hours  were  from  nine  to  twelve  in  the  forenoon 
and  from  three  to  five  in  the  afternoon.  Pupils  distinguished 
for  exemplary  deportment  and  attention  to  their  studies  were 
selected  as  monitors ;  and  the  Rules  for  the  Government  of 
Schools  issued  at  a  somewhat  later  period  state  that  "  the  chil- 
dren are  ordered  to  respect  and  obey  them."f  For  a  time  moni- 
tors received  weekly  tickets  of  approbation,  if  their  conduct 
was  worthy,  and  once  in  three  weeks  the  tickets  were  presented 
to  the  School  Committee;  for  one  ticket  a  monitor  received 
three  cents,  for  two  tickets  seven  cents,  for  three  tickets  one 
shilling.  But  this  practice  was  not  constant  or  uniform.  At 
one  period  some  of  the  monitors  received  their  board  and 
clothing.  ^_ 

This  condensed  account  of  the  Lancasterian  or  monitorial 
system,  as  practised  a  few  years  afterward,  conveys  a  sufficiently 
clear  idea  of  the  plan  adopted  by  the  founders  of  the  Free 
School  Society.  In  adopting  it  the  Trustees  were  guided,  in 
part,  by  the  advice  of  one  of  their  number,  Benjamin  D.  Per- 
kins, the  first  Secretary  of  the  Board,  who  had  seen  it  in  opera-  * 
tion  in  England  and  had  been  in  personal  communication  with 
Mr.  Lancaster.1 

Before  the  opening  of  the  school,  in  May,  1806,  it  was  per- 
ceived by  members  of  the  Society  that  other  schools  would  be 
required  if  the  flood  of  ignorance  was  to  be  stayed,  and  in 
April,  1806,  Colonel  Henry  Rutgers,  who,  in  1828,  became  the 
second  President  of  the  Society,  "  with  a  liberality  truly  mag- 
nificent," presented  it  with  a  lot  in  Henry  street,  on  which  to 
build  a  schoolhouse,  "  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  indigent  in  that 
populous  part  of  the  city."  2  He  afterward  gave  the  Society  an 
adjoining  lot,  the  two  being  valued  at  $2500. 

The  eleemosynary  character  of  the  Free  School  Society  at 

1  William  Smith,  the  first  teacher  employed  by  the  Society,  must  have  learned 
the  Lancasterian  system  in  England,  as  it  was  not  employed  in  America  before  the 
opening  of  the  Society's  school. 

2  See  Account,  1814;  also  Mr.  Clinton's  address  on  December  n,  1809. 


30  The  New  York  Public  School 

the  beginning  of  its  career  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  "  in  the 
winter  of  1806"  (1806-1807)  contributions  of  cloth,  stockings, 
shoes,  and  hats  were  received  by  the  Trustees,  and  distributed 
among  the  neediest  children,  so  that  they  might  be  able  to 
remain  in  the  school.  The  practice  of  supplying  the  material 
wants  of  those  scantily  clad  was  continued  for  some  years,  and 
the  funds  of  the  Society  appear  to  have  been  used  to  some 
extent  for  the  purpose.  At  all  events,  in  the  Rules  for  the 
Government  of  School  Committees  in  force  several  years  later 
we  read  the  following :  "  The  funds  of  the  Society  cannot,  in 
any  case,  be  appropriated  for  the  clothing  of  the  children."  It 
is  also  noticeable  that  in  1817  the  Society  received  a  bequest1 
of  $250,  "to  be  appropriated  exclusively  to  clothing  of  the 
children." 

When  their  school  had  been  in  operation  nearly  eight  months, 
in  January,  1807,  the  Trustees  presented  a  memorial  to  the 
Legislature,  setting  forth  the  work  and  needs  of  the  Society 
and  asking  for  aid.  The  application  was  successful,  and  on  the 
27th  of  February  an  act  was  passed  appropriating  $4000  for  the 
erection  of  a  suitable  building  or  buildings  for  the  instruction 
of  poor  children,  and  also  $1000  annually,  until  the  Legislature 
should  otherwise  determine,  "  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the 
benevolent  objects "  of  the  Society.  These  sums  were  to  be 
paid  out  of  moneys  received  under  the  provisions  of  a  statute 
entitled  "  An  Act  to  lay  a  duty  on  strong  liquors,  and  for  regu- 
lating inns  and  taverns." 

At  about  the  same  time  an  appeal  was  made  to  the  Corpora- 
tion of  the  city  for  assistance.  A  committee  visited  the  school 
and  was  favorably  impressed,  and  in  consequence  "  a  building 
adjacent  to  the  Almshouse  "  (the  Almshouse  being  situated  on 
the  south  side  of  Chambers  street,  east  of  Broadway)  was 
granted  for  the  temporary  accommodation  of  the  school,  and 
$500  was  voted  toward  repairing  it.  In  one  of  the  reports  this 
building  is  spoken  of  as  "the  workshop  adjacent  to  the  Alms- 

1  From  Mary  McCrea.     See  Minutes  of  May  16, 


Free  School  Society  s  First  School  Opened        31 

house."  The  Trustees  agreed  that  fifty  children  belonging  to 
the  Almshouse  should  be  educated  by  the  Society,  —  a  circum- 
stance which  emphasized  the  strictly  charitable  character  of  the 
school. 

The  school  was  removed  to  its  new  quarters  on  April  28, 
1807,  and  before  the  close  of  the  year  contained  150  scholars. 
Its  growth  continued  to  be  rapid.  Not  more  than  240  pupils 
could  be  accommodated,  and  this  limit  was  reached  a  few 
months  later. 


CHAPTER   IV 
THREE   MORE   SCHOOLS   ESTABLISHED 

AT  the  session  of  the  Legislature  in  1808  an  act  was  passed, 
at  the  request  of  the  Society,  abolishing  its  unwieldy  name  and 
making  it  simply  The  Free  School  Society  of  New  York,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  extending  its  powers  to  include  "  all  children 
who  are  the  proper  objects  of  a  gratuitous  education."  In  the 
ensuing  autumn  another  appeal  was  made  to  THe  city  Corpora- 
tion, which  promptly  responded  by  presenting  to  the  Society 
"  an  extensive  lot  of  ground  in  Chatham  street,  on  which  was 
an  arsenal,  on  condition  of  their  educating  gratuitously  the  chil- 
dren of  the  Almshouse."  The  lot,  with  the  old  building  on  it, 
was  valued  at  $10,000,  and  the  Corporation  subsequently  con- 
tributed $1500  to  aid  the  Society  in  constructing  a  new  school 
building.  The  following  year,  1809,  was  devoted  to  the  erection 
of  a  brick  structure,  120  by  40  feet  in  size,  "capable  of  commo- 
diously  accommodating  in  one  room  five  hundred  children."  In 
the  lower  story  were  apartments  for  the  family  of  the  teacher, 
for  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees,  and  for  a  second  schoolroom, 
with  a  capacity  of  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  amount  expended  by  the  Trustees  in  "  the  erection 
and  completion  of  this  extensive  building"  exceeded  $13,000. 
They  received  contributions  of  timber  and  other  materials  of 
the  value  of  $1000,  and  "also  negotiated  with  a  master-mason 
and  two  carpenters,  who  generously  superintended  the  work, 
and  paid  the  laborers,  without  receiving  themselves  the  cus- 
tomary profit."  1 

The  situation  of  this  school,  long  known  as  New  York  Free 

1  See  Account,  1814. 
32 


Three  More  Schools  Established  33 

School  No.  i,  is  a  matter  of  interest.  By  some  historians  it  has 
been  represented  as  located  on  Chambers  street.1  The  lot  on 
which  the  arsenal  stood,  however,  was  on  the  corner  of  Chatham 
street  and  Tryon  row,  and  the  school  building  was  situated  on 
the  westerly  side  of  Tryon  row,  fronting  on  Chatham  street.2 
The  greater  portion  of  this  site  is  now  included  in  Centre  street 
(the  extension  of  which  caused  the  removal  of  the  schoolhouse 
in  1837),  but  the  building,  being  120  feet  long,  must  have  cov- 
ered, in  part,  land  now  included  in  City  Hall  Park. 

The  transfer  of  the  school,  on  December  1 1,  1809,  to  its  new 
"spacious  and  permanent  habitation,"  to  quote  the  Account  of 
1814,  was  an  event  of  importance  to  the  little  city.  Interesting 
exercises  were  held,  the  principal  feature  being  an  address  by 
President  Clinton,  who  reviewed  the  work  of  the  Society  and 
laid  special  emphasis  on  the  merits  of  the  Lancasterian  system, 
as  above  set  forth  (see  Chapter  III).  He  called  attention  to 
the  fact  that  the  system  of  instruction  adopted  by  the  Society 
had  received  legislative  sanction,  and,  with  pardonable  pride, 
quoted  from  the  preamble  of  the  act  of  February  27,  1807,  the 
statement  that  the  Society's  "  plan  of  extending  the  benefits  of 
education  to  poor  children,  and  the  excellent  mode  of  instruction 
adopted  by  them,  are  highly  deserving  of  the  encouragement  of 
government."  He  also  referred  to  Colonel  Rutgers's  gift  of 
two  lots  in  Henry  street,  and  to  the  necessity  of  enlarging  the 
work  of  the  Society.  On  this  point  he  said  : 

"  The  law  from  which  we  derive  our  corporate  existence  does  not  confine 
us  to  one  seminary,  but  contemplates  the  establishment  of  schools.  A  restric- 
tion to  a  single  institution  would  greatly  impair  our  usefulness,  and  would 
effectually  discourage  those  exertions  which  are  necessary  in  order  to  spread 
knowledge  among  the  indigent. 

"  Colonel  Henry  Rutgers,  with  his  characteristic  benevolence,  has  made  a 
donation  of  two  lots  in  Henry-street,  worth  at  least  twenty-five  hundred  dollars, 

1  See  Boese,  p.  30 ;   Lossing,  Vol.  I,  p.  303. 

2  "  The  State  Arsenal  was  erected  ...  on  premises  now  on  the  corner  of  Tryon 
row  and  Chatham  street,  at  about  the  time  of  the  revolutionary  war.  "  —  VALENTINE'S 
Manual,  1863,  p.  603. 

D 


34  The  New  York  Public  School 

to  this  Corporation.  By  a  condition  contained  in  one  of  the  deeds,  it  is  necessary 
that  we  should  erect  a  school-house  by  June,  1811  ;  and  it  is  highly  proper, 
without  any  reference  to  the  condition,  that  this  should  be  accomplished  as 
soon  as  possible,  in  order  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  indigent  in  that  populous 
part  of  the  city.  If  some  charitable  and  public-spirited  citizen  would  follow  up 
this  beneficence,  and  make  a  similar  conveyance  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
city,  and  if  the  liberality  of  the  public  shall  dispense  the  means  of  erecting  the 
necessary  buildings,  then  the  exigencies  of  all  our  poor,  with  respect  to  educa- 
tion, would  be  amply  supplied  for  a  number  of  years." * 

f  In  reference  to  the  opening  of  the  new  building,  the  Account 
of  1814  contains  the  following:  "A  building,  dedicated  to  the 
gratuitous  instruction  of  five  hundred  children,  under  the  care 
of  a  single  individual,  was  a  spectacle,  which  had  never  before 
been  exhibited  on  the  American  continent.'^ 

In  the  erection  of  the  new  building  the  Society  incurred 
a  considerable  debt,  which  it  had  no  means  of  meeting. 
Another  application  was  soon  made  to  the  Legislature,  and  in 
1810  an  act  was  passed  providing  that  the  fee  for  membership 
in  the  Society  should  be  $50,  and  also  granting  it  an  additional 
appropriation  of  $4000  from  the  excise  moneys,  "  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  suitable  accommodations  for  the  instruction  of 
poor  children."  As  the  gift  of  Colonel  Rutgers  was  conditioned 
on  the  erection  of  a  schoolhouse  on  the  Henry  street  lots  by 
June,  1811,  and  as  the  funds  in  hand  were  insufficient  for  the 
purpose,  the  Trustees  decided  to  make  another  appeal  to  the 
liberality  of  the  community.  Subscriptions  were  solicited  in 
the  various  wards,  and  the  citizens  responded  so  handsomely  that 
in  a  short  time  the  sum  of  $13,000  was  collected. 

The  cornerstone  of  School  No.  2  was  laid  on  November  2, 
1 8 10,  and  the  building  was  opened  for  use  on  the  I3th  of 
November,  1811.  It  was  constructed  on  the  same  general  plan 
as  No.  i,  but  on  a  smaller  scale,  being  80  by  40  feet  in  dimen- 
sions. The  cost  was  about  $11,000.  It  contained  one  large 

1  The  manuscript  diary  of  Clinton  (preserved  by  the  New  York  Historical  Society) 
contains  the  following  entry  under  date  of  December  n,  1809  :  "Attended  removal 
of  Free  School  to  new  building  and  delivered  discourse." 


FIRS' 


'USE    BUILT   BY  THE   FREE   SCHOOL   SOCIETY,   1809 
Cost  (without  site),  $13,000 


"MODEL"    SCHOOL   BUILDING  OF  THE   PUBLIC  SCHOOL   SOCIETY,   1843 
Cost  (with  site),  $17.000 


Three  More  Schools  Established  35 

room,  with  accommodations  for  three  hundred  children,  and  in  the 
lower  story  was  a  room  large  enough  to  hold  one  hundred  and 
fifty  in  addition.  Rooms  were  also  provided  for  the  teacher's 
family. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Trustees,  feeling  the  importance  of 
establishing  a  school  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  city,  where 
much  property  in  the  vicinity  of  Greenwich  street  was  owned 
by  Trinity  Church,  presented  a  request  to  the  vestry  of  that 
church,  which  was  favorably  received.  The  vestry  placed  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Society  two  lots  at  the  corner  of  Hudson  and 
Christopher  streets,  the  estimated  value  of  which  was  $1000. 
This  was  in  the  spring  of  1811.  An  act  of  the  Legislature 
passed  in  that  year  (March  3Oth)  granted  the  Society  a  further 
sum  of  $4000  from  the  excise  moneys,  and  an  additional  amount 
of  $500  yearly  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Legislature. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  as  early  as(_pecember,  1810,  the 
Society  appropriated  $100  for  the  purchase  of  books  for  a 
circulating  library/to  be  attached  to  its  school.  In  the  same 
month  it  received  from  Charles  Le  Roux  its  first  bequest, 
amounting  to  $250. 

While  the  original  purpose  of  the  founders  of  the  Society 
was  to  establish  a  school  for  the  education  (in  the  ordinary 
meaning  of  the  word)  of  "  such  poor  children  as  do  not  belong 
to  or  are  not  provided  for  by  any  religious  society,"  they  were 
by  no  means  unmindful  of  the  importance  of  religious  training 
for  the  children  under  their  care.  From  the  beginning  it  was 
the  daily  practice  to  read  passages  from  the  Bible  in  the  schools ; 
but  no  direct  religious  instruction  was  given  as  a  part  of  the 
regular  school  exercises.  The  Society  was  composed  of  men 
belonging  to  almost  if  not  quite  all  of  the  churches,  although 
the  influence  of  the  Society  of  Friends  predominated.1  To  pro- 
vide an  opportunity  for  religious  training,  the  Trustees  deter- 

1  Evidence  of  this  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  dates  of  the  official  minutes  of 
the  Society  were  in  accordance  with  the  Quaker  style  ("5th  month  (May),"  for 
example)  until  1826;  and  this  style  was  used  at  least  once  in  the  following  year. 


36  The  Neiv  York  P^lblic  School 

mined,  about  this  time,  to  suspend  the  regular  studies  on 
Tuesday  afternoons,  when  an  association  of  women  took  charge 
of  the  work  of  instructing  the  children  in  the  catechisms  of 
the  different  churches.  To  quote  the  Annual  Report  of  the 
Society  for  1814,  "  The  afternoon  of  every  Tuesday,  or  third  day 
of  the  week,  has  been  set  apart  for  this  purpose ;  and  the 
children  have  been  instructed  in  the  catechisms  of  the  churches 
to  which  they  respectively  belong."  The  report  mentioned 
further  states  the  number  of  children  educated  in  particular 
tenets  as  follows  :  Presbyterian,  271 ;  Episcopal,  1 86;  Methodist, 
172;  Baptist,  119;  Dutch  Church,  41  ;  Roman  Catholic,  9.  In 
the  next  Annual  Report  ( 1 8 1 5  )  we  read  that  the  children  under  the 
care  of  the  Society  "  are  said  to  belong  to  the  different  religious 
denominations"  as  follows :  Presbyterian,  365;  Methodist,  175; 
Episcopal,  159;  Baptist,  144;  Roman  Catholic,  57;  Dutch 
Church,  33. 

It  was  further  arranged  that  the  children  should  assemble  at 
the  schools  on  Sunday  forenoon,  and  thence  proceed  to  their 
chosen  places  of  worship  under  the  care  of  monitors. 

The  Sketch  published  as  a  supplement  to  the  Annual  Report 
for  1842  comments  thus  upon  this  practice: 

"Assiduously  pursuing  an  uninterrupted  course  of  success,  the  trustees 
had  the  satisfaction  of  feeling  that  they  had  obtained  in  a  very  considerable 
degree  the  cherished  objects  of  their  foundation,  and  with  the  fullest  approba- 
tion of  their  fellow-citizens.  The  Board,  composed  of  individuals  of  differ- 
ent religious  persuasions,  had  from  the  beginning  studiously  endeavored  to 
avoid  the  inculcation  of  the  particular  tenets  of  any  ;  but  impressed  with  the 
vast  importance  and  salutary  influence  of  religion  on  the  youthful  mind,  they 
had  from  the  commencement  directed  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  should  be  read 
daily,  at  the  opening  of  the  schools.  At  this  period,  however,  on  the  sugges- 
tion, and  to  meet  the  wishes  of  numerous  well-meaning  individuals,  the  trus- 
tees readily  yielded  to  a  proposition,  that  an  association  of  more  than  fifty 
ladies,  of  high  respectability,  and  of  different  religious  denominations,  who  had 
volunteered  for  the  purpose,  should  meet  in  the  school  room,  one  afternoon  in 
each  week,  to  give  instructions  to  the  pupils,  from  such  denominational 
catechisms  as  might  be  designated  by  their  parents.  At  the  same  time,  to 
meet  their  expressed  wishes,  monitors  were  appointed  to  lead  them  on  the 


Three  More  Schools  Established  37 

Sabbath  to  their  appropriate  places  of  worship.  This  measure  was  continued 
until  obstructed  by  the  wide  extension  of  the  schools,  and  superseded  by  the 
establishment  of  Sunday  schools,  to  which  excellent  institutions  they  there- 
after commended  their  pupils.  In  furtherance  of  this  object,  the  trustees  have 
ever  felt  obligated,  for  the  interests  of  the  children  of  their  charge,  to  grant 
the  gratuitous  use  of  their  school  houses,  with  only  such  restrictions  as  shall 
secure  their  property  from  injury.  Thus  a  salutary  and  self-sustained  institu- 
tion, is  happily  found  co-operative  with  the  benevolent  designs  of  a  Society, 
endowed  by  municipal  and  legislative  liberality,  in  furnishing  to  the  neglected 
and  uneducated,  that  knowledge  which  is  to  fit  them  for  usefulness  in  the  con- 
cerns of  after  life"  (pp.  19,  20). 

School  No.  i  was  attended  by  both  boys  and  girls;  No.  2 
was  at  first  exclusively  a  boys'  school.  Soon  after  the  comple- 
tion of  No.  2,  however,  the  room  in  the  lower  story  was  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Female  Association  (see  Chapter  I),  which 
conducted  a  school  for  girls  there.  This  Association  was  also 
allowed  the  use  of  a  room  in  school  building  No.  I  for  a  girls' 
school,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  both  girls  and  boys  were  taught 
together  in  the  Society's  first-established  school.  The  Annual 
Report  for  1814  stated  that  No.  I  was  attended  by  471  children 
of  both  sexes,  and  No.  2  by  327 ;  and  added  that  two  rooms 
were  still  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  Female  Association,  in 
which  were  taught  with  singular  success  the  rudiments  of  learn- 
ing and  plain  needlework  to  upwards  of  300  scholars.  In  the 
Annual  Report  for  the  following  year  mention  is  made  that 
another  unoccupied  room  in  the  building  in  Chatham  street  had 
been  set  apart  for  the  use  of  the  Association.  Two  years  later 
(Annual  Report,  1817)  we  read  that  the  Female  Association 
"  continues  to  be  pre-eminent  in  usefulness,"  and  that  arrange- 
ments had  been  made  for  it  to  take  the  girls  in  No.  i  under  its 
charge. 

The  year  1815  was  marked  by  one  event  of  importance,  for 
in  that  year  the  Society  received  $3708.14  as  its  share  of  the 
State  Common  School  Fund,  under  the  first  apportionment  made.1 

1  In  1805  (the  year  in  which  the  Society  was  established)  an  act  was  passed  by 
the  Legislature  "  appropriating  the  net  proceeds  of  five  hundred  thousand  acres  of 


38  The  New  York  Public  School 

In  the  Annual  Report  for  the  year  the  following  reference  is 
found :  "  In  announcing  to  the  Society  the  receipt  of  the  first 
appropriation  under  this  act,  the  trustees  wish  to  express  their 
deep  satisfaction,  at  the  practical  commencement  of  a  plan, 
which,  in  their  opinion  is  calculated  to  confer  lasting  benefits  on 
the  community.  Intimately  acquainted  with  the  value  of  exten- 
sive and  permanent  institutions  for  the  instruction  of  the  desti- 
tute, they  consider  this  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  laws 
recorded  in  the  annals  of  our  Legislature." 

In  1817  plans  were  considered  for  procuring  a  site  and  erect- 
ing a  schoolhouse  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  city,  and  three 
lots  in  Rivington  street  were  selected;  but  the  purchase  was 
not  completed  until  the  following  year.  An  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture passed  in  1817  fixed  the  fee  for  membership  in  the  Society 
at  $25,  authorized  an  increase  in  the  number  of  Trustees,  and 
appropriated  $2000  from  the  excise  moneys  for  the  erection  of 
a  building  in  the  section  mentioned,  there  being  "  at  Manhattan 
Island,  and  two  adjoining  settlements,"  "  a  considerable  popula- 
tion, embracing  perhaps  one  thousand  children,  who  are  desti- 
tute of  the  means  of  education"  (Act  of  April  5,  1817).  This 
act  contained  the  further  important  provision : 

f  "That  if  any  surplus  school-monies  shall  remain  in  the  hands  of  the  said 
Trustees,  after  an  ample  compensation  to  the  teachers  employed  by  them,  it 
shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  them  to  apply  such  surplus,  to  the  instruction 
of  schoolmasters  on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  to  the  erection  of  buildings  for 
schools,  and  to  all  the  needful  purposes  of  a  common  school  education,  and  to 
no  other  purposes  whatever." 

the  public  lands  to  the  support  of  common  schools,  the  interest,  when  amounting  to 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  to  be  annually  apportioned  to  these  institutions  for  the  payment 
of  teachers'  wages.  The  foundations  of  a  permanent  school  fund  were  thus  judi- 
ciously provided." —  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Randall,  p.  163.  By  a  law 
passed  in  1812,  $50,000  annually  was  appropriated,  to  be  distributed  among  the 
counties  of  the  State,  but,  as  this  did  not  apply  to  New  York  City,  a  supplementary 
act  was  passed  March  12,  1813,  permitting  the  city  to  share  in  the  revenue  of  the 
school  fund.  The  city  was  required  to  raise  a  sum  equal  to  its  share  of  such  school 
money.  —  See  Kiddle  and  Schem,  p.  638. 


Three  More  Schools  Established  39 

This  was  not  only  in  terms  an  endorsement  of  the  Lancas- 
terian  system,  but  the  provision  that  the  school  moneys  might  be 
applied  to  the  erection  of  schoolhouses  soon  proved  to  have  an 
important  bearing  on  the  future  course  of  the  Society. 

The  third  school  of  the  Society  was  established  on  May  25, 
1818,  in  a  room  in  a  building  at  the  corner  of  Hudson  and 
Christopher  streets,  owned  by  the  Corporation  of  the  city.  The 
attendance  increased  so  rapidly  that  application  was  quickly 
made  for  another  room.  The  request  was  immediately  granted. 
School  No.  3  was  placed  in  charge  of  Shepherd  Johnson,  a 
young  man  who  had  received  his  entire  education  in  School 
No.  i.  His  salary  was  fixed  at  $500  per  annum,  but  was 
increased  to  $800  on  the  ist  of  November  following.  He  was 
the  pioneer  of  a  large  number  of  teachers  trained  under  the 
direction  of  the  Society,  and  continued  in  its  employ  until  I825.1 

Soon  after  the  purchase  of  the  lots  in  Rivington  street, 
already  mentioned,  it  was  resolved  to  proceed  with  the  building 
of  a  schoolhouse.  This  was  hurried  to  completion,  and  was 
opened  in  May,  1819,  being  designated  as  No.  4. 

1  According  to  Boese  (p.  32),  Mr.  Johnson  "  continued  for  many  years  in  the 
employ  of  the  Society,  and  was  of  great  service  not  only  in  his  own  school,  but  in 
assisting  and  directing  at  the  organization  of  other  new  schools  intrusted  to  parties 
of  less  experience."  The  minutes  of  the  Trustees  record  Mr.  Johnson's  resignation 
in  1825,  when  he  accepted  a  position  in  the  High  School  established  (as  a  pay  school) 
in  1824  by  Dr.  John  Griscom  and  D.  H.  Barnes.  It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  the 
trustees  of  the  High  School,  in  their  first  annual  report,  stated  that  "the  general  progress 
of  both  the  Senior  and  Junior  Departments  affords  the  most  conclusive  evidence  that 
the  Monitorial  System  of  Instruction  is  capable  of  being  adapted  to  the  higher  as 
well  as  the  lower  branches  of  education." 


CHAPTER  V 
A  TEACHER  IMPORTED   FROM   ENGLAND 

DESPITE  the  encomiums  bestowed  on  the  Lancasterian  system 
by  Mr.  Clinton  and  others,  and  its  formal  approval  by  the  Legis- 
lature in  the  law  passed  April  5,  1817,  the  Trustees  were  evi- 
dently not  satisfied  with  the  methods  of  their  teachers.  In 
May  of  that  year,  having  decided  to  enlarge  their  work,  they 
determined  to  procure  from  England  a  teacher  "  completely  com- 
petent to  teach  on  the  Lancasterian  plan,"  at  a  salary  of  $1000 
per  annum ;  but  at  a  meeting  held  three  days  later  the  amount 
was  reduced  to  $800,  "  the  expences  (sic)  of  the  passage  to  this 
country  to  be  borne  by  this  Institution."  Correspondence  was 
entered  into  with  the  British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  accord- 
ing to  Mr.  Boese  (p.  31)  "the  very  centre  and  fountain-head  of 
improved  Lancasterianism,"  and  through  its  agency  the  teacher 
sought  was  found  in  a  young  man  named  Charles  Pickton,1  who 
presented  himself  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  early  in  September, 
1818.  He  brought  with  him  a  quantity  of  slates,  Lancasterian 
lessons,  etc.  In  April,  1819,  Mr.  Pickton  was  appointed  teacher 
of  School  No.  4  (in  Rivington  street),  which  was  opened  on 
the  ist  of  May  following.  By  resolution  of  the  Trustees  he 
was  authorized  to  "  conduct  the  school  according  to  such  plan 
and  with  such  regulations,  not  involving  additional  expense, 
as  he  may  think  proper."  In  addition  to  his  salary,  the 

1  This  name  is  spelled  Picton  and  Pickton,  the  former  spelling  being  used  by 
both  Mr.  Bourne  and  Mr.  Boese.  In  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  it  first  appears  as 
Picton,  but  later  is  entered  many  times  as  Pickton.  The  weight  of  evidence  would 
appear  to  be  in  favor  of  the  latter  form,  although  the  former  is  used  in  the  Sketch 
printed  in  the  Annual  Reports  for  1842  and  1848. 

40 


A   Teacher  Imported  from  England  41 

Trustees  granted  him  an  allowance  of  $200  per  annum  for 
rent.1 

Special  importance  may  be  attached  to  the  words  "  not  in- 
volving additional  expense,"  quoted  above.  In  January  of  this 
year  (1819)  a  committee  of  the  Board  had  reported  an  estimated 
deficit  of  $11,465,  and  recommended  that  an  application  be 
made  to  the  Legislature  in  order  "  to  meet  and  make  up  this 
enormous  deficiency."  In  the  line  of  economy,  the  committee 
further  recommended  that  the  salaries  of  the  teachers  of  No.  I 
and  No.  2  be  reduced  to  $800,  that  the  monitors-general  be 
informed  that  the  Society  cannot  continue  to  board  and  clothe 
them,  and  that  rigid  retrenchment  be  exercised  in  all  directions. 
On  January  igth  a  memorial  was  addressed  to  the  Legislature 
petitioning  for  a  grant  of  $10,465.  The  paper  stated  that  1169 
children  were  attending  the  schools  of  the  Society,  and  that  the 
whole  number  of  children  taught  in  them  had  been  7541 ;  that 
during  the  past  year  a  third  school  had  been  established  at 
Greenwich,  at  an  expense  of  about  $1200;  that  the  Society 
was  erecting  a  "  building  to  contain  near  600  children,  in  the 
North  Eastern  part  of  the  City,  the  expense  of  which  estab- 
lishment will  be  about  $13,000" ;  and  called  special  attention  to 
the  great  increase  of  population,  particularly  by  the  influx  of 
foreigners,  and  to  the  multiplying  number  of  "  poor  and  suffer- 
ing children,  who  must  progress  from  the  cradle  to  maturity, 
with  no  schools  but  those  of  profligacy  and  guilt,  unless  the 
hand  of  Charity  be  extended  to  reclaim  their  steps." 

On  March  26th  (1819)  the  Legislature  granted  the  sum  of 
$5000,  which  was  used  in  completing  No.  4. 

As  early  as  August  7,  1818,  a  vacation  of  three  weeks  in 
No.  i  and  No.  2  was  authorized,  "  to  commence  on  Monday  next," 
and  the  question  of  a  vacation  in  No.  3  (which  had  been  in  opera- 

1  Mr.  Boese  says  (p.  33)  that  in  the  interval  between  his  arrival  and  the  opening 
of  School  No.  4  Mr.  Pickton  was  employed  "  by  permission  of  the  Board  [of  Trus- 
tees], and  at  the  same  salary,  in  reorganizing,  on  the  Lancasterian  system,  the 
parochial  school  of  St.  Peter's  Church  in  Barclay  Street." 


42  The  New  York  Public  School 

tion  only  since  May  25th)  was  referred  to  the  committee  of  that 
school,  the  teacher,  however,  "  to  have  double  pay  for  the  term 
if  no  vacation  takes  place."1  On  August  6,  1819,  the  teachers 
asked  for  four  weeks'  vacation,  and  three  weeks  were  allowed. 

In  December,  1818,  Mr.  Lancaster  arrived  in  this  country. 
He  received  a  warm  welcome,  especially  from  the  Free  School 
Society.  The  Trustees  promptly  granted  him  the  use  of  their 
schoolrooms  at  such  times  as  would  not  interfere  with  school 
hours,  for  the  purpose  of  delivering  lectures  on  "  the  System  of 
education  invented  by  him."  His  arrival  seemed  to  give  a  new 
impetus  to  the  advocates  of  his  method  of  instruction,  for  at  the 
same  meeting  at  which  the  action  just  mentioned  was  taken,  it 
was  decided  by  the  Trustees  to  print  a  manual  of  the  Lancas- 
terian  system.  The  project  languished  for  a  time,  but  the 
Manual  referred  to  in  Chapter  III  was  issued  in  1820. 

An  important  "  Address  to  the  Parents  and  Guardians  of  the 
Children  belonging  to  the  Schools  under  the  care  of  the  New 
York  Free-School  Society"  was  adopted  on  April  2,  1819.  It 
was  signed  by  thirty-four  Trustees,2  and  5000  copies  of  it  were 
printed  for  distribution.  Mr.  Bourne  says  of  it :  "  This  address 
contains  a  very  clear  expression  of  the  views  and  motives  which 
governed  the  Society  and  its  friends,  and  is  interesting  not  only 
as  an  embodiment  of  those  views,  but  as  an  authentic  avowal  of 
the  nature  of  the  religious  influences  which  at  the  time  prevailed 
in  the  Society.  Whatever  differences  of  opinion  may  exist  as  to 
the  theological  character  of  the  address,  it  may  be  safely  assumed 
that  men  acting  under  such  high  convictions  could  not  be 
unworthy  of  confidence  in  the  delicate  and  responsible  work 
of  training  the  young  and  neglected  members  of  society " 
(P.  36). 

The  address  calls  attention  to  the  evils  of  idleness  and  the 

1  See  minutes  of  August  7,  1818.     Mr.  Boese's  statement  (p.  35)  that  the  first 
vacation  was  granted  in  August,  1820,  is  obviously  erroneous. 

2  The  number  of  Trustees,  originally  thirteen,  had  been  enlarged  by  five  in  1810, 
by  six  in  1812,  and  by  twelve  in  1817. 


A    Teacher  Imported  from  England  43 

"improper  use  of  Spirituous  Liquors,"  to  the  desirability  of 
temperance,  economy,  and  cleanliness,  to  the  importance  of 
the  "  due  observance  of  the  First  Day  of  the  week,  commonly 
called  Sunday,"  and  to  the  necessity  of  frequent  and  diligent 
reading  of  the  Bible.  On  the  subject  of  cleanliness  the  follow- 
ing may  be  quoted : 

"  Parents  can,  perhaps,  scarcely  give  a  greater  proof  of  their  care  for  their 
children,  than  by  keeping  them  clean  and  decent,  especially  when  they  are  sent 
to  school,  where  it  is  expected  they  will  appear  with  their  hands,  faces,  and 
heads  perfectly  clean,  and  their  clothing  clean  and  in  good  order :  the  appear- 
ance of  children  exhibits  to  every  observing  mind  the  character  of  the  mother." 

Certain  rules  are  prescribed,  some  of  which  are  of  interest 
after  an  interval  of  nearly  ninety  years.  For  example : 

"Your  children  must  be  in  school  precisely  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning 
and  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon." 

"  They  ought  to  be  sent  to  school  every  day,  both  morning  and  afternoon  ; 
otherwise  they  may  forget  in  one  day  what  they  learned  the  day  before ;  noth- 
ing but  sickness,  or  some  unavoidable  circumstance,  should  induce  you  to  keep 
your  children  at  home  one  day.  ..." 

"  It  is  necessary  that  you  should  see  that  your  children  go  to  school  with 
clean  faces  and  hands,  their  hair  coombed  (sic)  and  in  good  order,  and  their 
clothes  as  clean  and  whole  as  possible ;  otherwise  they  are  liable  to  be  pun- 
ished for  your  neglect." 

"  If  your  children  behave  well,  and  study  their  lessons  at  home,  they  will 
be  rewarded  with  Tickets ;  but  if  they  behave  badly,  and  will  not  study,  they 
must  be  punished." 

"  No  child  can  be  admitted  under  Six  years  of  age." 

"  The  children  of  parents  who  are  able  to  pay  for  schooling  cannot  be 
admitted." 

"  It  is  expected  that  Parents  see  that  their  children  regularly  attend  some 
place  of  worship." 

Two  or  three  entries  in  the  Trustees'  minutes  for  the  year 
1819  may  be  deserving  of  passing  note. 

On  March  5th  it  was  resolved  that  "  the  children  be  taught 
once  in  each  week  to  repeat  some  suitable  passages  out  of  Tracts 
on  the  subject  of  the  destructive  use  of  ardent  spirits,  and  in 
order  that  this  may  not  be  omitted  it  is  directed  to  be  inserted 


44  The  New  York  Public  School 

in  the  By-Laws."  But  this  action  was  reconsidered  on  April 
2d,  and  on  June  4th  the  resolution  was  rescinded. 

On  May  7th  a  committee  on  the  general  state  of  the  schools 
reported  in  reference  to  the  number  of  children  attending  church, 
stating  that  in  No.  I,  out  of  480  on  register,  397  attended  church 
regularly,  in  No.  2,  335  out  of  437  on  register,  and  in  No.  3,  312 
out  of  333,  and  then  added:  "  Besides  this  unparalleled  propor- 
tion of  scholars  in  our  schools,  who  are  known  to  attend  divine 
worship,  either  with  their  parents  or  with  Sunday  Schools,  it  is 
presumed  that  some  others  may  attend  without  its  being  known 
to  the  Trustees." 

On  December  3d  a  resolution  was  adopted  authorizing  the 
teachers  to  instruct  "  some  of  the  higher  class  of  children  in 
English  Grammar." 

So  rapid  was  the  growth  of  No.  4  that  on  June  4,  1819  (a 
little  more  than  a  month  after  it  was  opened),  the  attendance 
was  reported  as  356  —  200  boys  and  156  girls;  and  the  com- 
mittee recommended  that  the  lower  room  be  fitted  up  for  the 
use  of  the  girls.  On  August  3Oth  the  girls'  school  was  opened, 
in  charge  of  Mrs.  Pickton,  with  an  attendance  of  182.  A  year 
later,  in  August,  1820,  it  was  decided  to  finish  and  furnish  the 
cellar  of  No.  4,  as  the  committee  reported  that  "  many  of  the 
children  are  obliged  to  sit  on  the  floor."  It  thus  appears  that 
overcrowding  is  not  exclusively  a  modern  evil  in  New  York 
schools. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  rooms  furnished  by  the  city  for 
No.  3  were  inadequate,  and  steps  were  taken  toward  the  erection 
of  a  schoolhouse  on  the  lots  granted  by  Trinity  Church ;  but  as 
the  title  to  the  property  was  not  vested  absolutely  in  the  Society, 
negotiations  were  had  with  the  church  authorities,  which  resulted 
in  the  purchase  of  the  lots  for  $1250.  The  new  building  of  No. 
3,  80  by  45  feet,  was  promptly  erected,  at  a  cost  of  about  $6600. 
On  October  15,  1820,  the  boys'  school  was  removed  to  it,  and 
"  the  Female  School "  was  opened  on  October  22d,  in  charge  of 
Sarah  T.  Field,  who  was  appointed  teacher  at  a  salary  of  $250. 


A    Teacher  Imported  from  England  45 

The  fourteenth  Annual  Report,  presented  to  the  Society  in 
1819,  gives  the  whole  number  of  pupils  on  register  as  1250,  and 
states  that  1044  of  them  were  known  to  attend  public  worship 
on  the  Sabbath.  It  contains  the  following  table,  made  up  from 
the  reports  of  the  teachers,  as  indicating  "the  employment  and 
progressive  improvement  of  the  scholars  for  the  last  year  "  : * 

297  Children  have  been  taught  to  form  letters  in  sand. 
615  have  been  advanced  from  letters  in  sand,  to  monosyllabic  reading  on 
boards. 

686  from  reading  on  boards,  to  Murray's  First  Book. 
335  from  Murray's  First  Book,  to  writing  on  slates. 
218  from  writing  on  slates,  to  writing  on  paper. 
341  to  reading  in  the  Bible. 
277  to  addition  and  subtraction. 
153  to  multiplication  and  division. 

60  to  the  compounds  of  the  four  first  rules. 

20  to  reduction. 

24  to  the  rule  of  three. 

In  this  report  the  Trustees  invite  all  desirous  of  learning  the 
Lancasterian  system  to  spend  six  or  eight  weeks  in  their  schools, 
and  thus  gain  a  "  competent  knowledge  "  of  the  methods  em- 
ployed ;  and  express  the  hope  that  they  will  be  able  to  multiply 
their  schools  until  "  every  indigent  child  "  is  provided  for.  A 
similar  reference  to  "  every  indigent  child  "  is  made  in  the  report 
for  the  following  year  (1820).  The  sixteenth  Annual  Report 
(1821)  states  that  "  care  is  taken  that  no  children  obtain  admis- 
sion to  these  schools  who  are  not  proper  objects  of  a  gratuitous 
education";  and  from  the  report  for  1822  we  learn  that  "the 
pupils  of  this  Institution  are  exclusively  those  whose  parents  are 
unable  to  defray  the  expenses  of  their  education." 

In  1821  arrangements  were  made  for  dividing  School  No.  2, 
in  Henry  street,  and  a  separate  school  for  girls  was  opened  on 
November  1st. 

In  this  year  2000  copies  of  the  Universal  Catechism  were 

1  Similar  tables,  though  differing  somewhat  in  form,  are  to  be  found  in  all  the 
Annual  Reports  of  the  Society. 


46  The  New  York  Public  School 

purchased  for  the  schools,  and  stereotype  plates  were  made  of 
a  book  called  Scripture  Selections,  which  had  attained  consider- 
able vogue  abroad,  and  an  edition  of  1000  was  printed. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  a  number  of  members  of  the 
Legislature  visited  the  schools  of  the  Society,1  and  their  visit  was 
followed  by  an  application  to  the  Legislature  for  sufficient  funds 
to  build  two  additional  schoolhouses  ;  but  no  appropriation  was 
authorized.  In  the  following  March  (1822),  as  it  was  found  that 
large  numbers  of  children  were  without  means  of  instruction, 
the  subject  was  carefully  canvassed,  and  it  was  decided  to  pro- 
pose an  additional  tax  in  order  to  raise  $5000  a  year  for  ten 
years,  which  would  provide  for  the  building  of  five  additional 
schoolhouses  at  $10,000  each.  The  records  in  connection  with 
this  matter  are  of  peculiar  interest.  The  population  of  the  city 
was  130,000,  and  a  tax  of  four  cents  per  capita  would  produce 
$5200,  which  would  be  only  -^3  of  one  per  cent,  on  the  total  as- 
sessed valuation  of  $68,285,070.  The  proposed  tax  was  figured 
out  as  follows  by  the  Trustees : 

A  person  assessed  as  worth  $100,  in  addition  to  his  tax 

would  pay  only       f  cent 

«  «  «  I>000>  «          «        «     «        71  cents 

"      in  independent  circumstances, 

worth  10,000,   «          «        «      "        75     " 
"      a  man  of  fortune,  "     20,000,   "          "        "      "   $1.50 

Nothing  came  of  this  proposition  immediately  ;  but  a  more 
significant  illustration  of  the  difference  between  the  third  decade 
of  the  nineteenth  century  and  the  present  time  could  scarcely 
be  found  than  the  grave  assertion,  in  the  tabular  statement  given 
above,  that  a  man  worth  $10,000  was  in  "independent  circum- 
stances," and  that  $20,000  was  a  "  fortune." 

1  An  item  of  $11  for  "carriage  hire"  in  connection  with  this  visit  is  to  be  found 
in  the  minutes. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CONTROVERSY  WITH   THE   BETHEL   BAPTIST   CHURCH 

f 

FOR  nearly  two  decades  the  Free  School  Society  carried  on 

its  work  with  no  opposition  and  but  little  friction,  and  its  pro- 
moters had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  their  beneficent  influence 
extend,  and  include  a  continually  increasing  number  of  chil- 
dren. Before  1820  they  had  four  schools  in  operation,  and  a 
fifth  was  opened  in  October,  1822.  The  Annual  Report  pre- 
sented to  the  Society  in  1820  showed  an  attendance  at  the  four 
schools  of  2023,  and  stated  that  the  whole  number  admitted 
from  the  beginning  had  been  9743.  But  stormy  times  were  at 
hand,  and  from  this  period  onward,  at  nearly  regularly  recurring 
intervals  of  ten  years,  the  Society  found  itself  involved  in  serious 
controversies,  leading  in  the  end  to  its  dissolution,  after  nearly 
half  a  century  of  unexampled  usefulness.^ 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  year  1822  the  Society  was 
confronted  with  what  came  to  be  known  as  the  Bethel  Baptist 
Church  controversy,  which  resulted  in  extensive  changes  in  the 
scope  and  operation  of  the  free  school  system.  }  In  1812,  as 
already  noted  in  Chapter  IV,  a  law  was  enacted  in  reference  to 
common  schools  in  the  State,  and  provision  was  made  for  the 
distribution  of  the  Common  School  Fund  in  accordance  with 
the  act  of  1805  which  established  it.  By  the  act  passed 
March  12,  1813,  it  was  provided  that  the  portion  of  the  school 
fund  received  by  the  city  and  county  of  New  York  should  be 
apportioned  and  paid  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Free  School 
Society,  the  trustees  or  treasurers  of  the  Orphan  Asylum  Society, 
the  Society  of  the  Economical  School  in  the  City  of  New  York 
(for  the  children  of  refugees  from  the  West  Indies),  the  African 
Free  School,  and  "  of  such  incorporated  religious  societies  in 

47 


48  The  New  York  Public  School 

said  city  as  now  support  or  hereafter  shall  establish  charity 
schools  within  the  said  city,  who  may  apply  for  the  same." 
The  several  societies  named  were  prohibited  from  using  the 
fund  for  any  purpose  other  than  the  payment  of  teachers' 
salaries.  As  heretofore  stated  (see  Chapter  IV),  the  first  dis- 
tribution of  the  Common  School  Fund  was  made  in  1815. 

Under  the  economical  operation  of  the  Lancasterian  system, 
several  hundred  children  being  instructed  by  one  teacher,  as- 
sisted by  pupils  acting  as  monitors,  who  received  at  the  best 
only  trifling  compensation,  the  Free  School  Society  soon  found 
that  the  amount  derived  from  the  school  fund  was  more  than 
sufficient  to  pay  its  teachers;  and  the  act  passed  April  5,  1817, 
already  quoted  (see  Chapter  IV),  authorized  it  to  appropriate  any 
surplus  for  the  erection  of  buildings,  the  instruction  of  school- 
masters on  the  Lancasterian  plan,  or  any  other  needful  purpose 
of  a  common  school  education. 

In  1820  the  trustees  of  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church  established 
a  school  in  the  basement  of  their  church,  in  Delancey  street, 
and  in  the  following  year  received  an  appropriation  from  the 
Common  School  Fund,  under  the  provisions  of  the  law  of  1813. 
In  February,  I822,1  they  secured  the  passage  of  a  special  act 
for  their  relief,  which,  in  Section  3,  authorized  them  to  use  any 
surplus  of  the  fund  remaining,  after  the  payment  of  the  salaries 
of  their  teachers,  for  the  instruction  of  schoolmasters,  the  erec- 
tion of  buildings,  etc.  Section  3  ran  : 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  if  any  moneys  be  now  remaining,  or  shall 
hereafter  remain,  in  the  hands  of  the  said  trustees,  from  the  school  moneys 
received  by  them  for  the  support  of  the  Bethel  Free  School,  after  a  sufficient 
compensation  to  the  teachers  employed  by  them,  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful 
for  them  to  apply  such  moneys  to  the  instruction  of  schoolmasters,  to  the 
erection  of  buildings  for  schools,  and  to  all  other  needful  purposes  of  a  com- 
mon school  education,  but  to  no  other  purposes  whatever." 

"  The  enactment  of  this  law,"  says  the  Sketch  which  forms 
a  part  of  the  Annual  Report  for  1842,  "not  only  excited  the 

1  De  Witt  Clinton,  President  of  the  Free  School  Society,  was  then  Governor. 


Controversy  with  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church      49 

alarm  of  'The  Free  School  Society,'  but  also  of  the  Trustees 
of  a  number  of  the  church  schools,  from  apprehensions  that  it 
might  lead  to  a  perversion  of  the  fund,  as  buildings  erected  by 
such  means  becoming  church  property,  might  also  be  appropri- 
ated to  other  purposes  than  (as  designed  by  the  extension  of 
the  bounty  of  the  State  to  them)  exclusively  for  the  education 
of  the  poor  "  (p.  22). 

On  March  13,  1822,  the  Trustees  of  the  Free  School  Society 
resolved  to  purchase  three  lots  in  the  vicinity  of  the  new  Roman 
Catholic  Cathedral,  in  Mott  street,  and  to  erect  a  new  school 
building  for  the  accommodation  of  children  living  between 
Broadway  and  the  Bowery,  "and  to  discourage  any  Religious 
Society  from  improperly  diverting  the  Common  School  Fund 
by  the  erection  of  their  own  school  houses  within  the  District 
or  from  interfering  with  the  liberal  and  extensive  views  of  the 
'  Free  School  Society '  in  the  education  of  all  the  poor  children 
of  this  Metropolis."  :  The  lots  referred  to  were  bought  with- 
out loss  of  time,  and  the  putting  up  of  a  building  was  immedi- 
ately proceeded  with.  School  No.  5  was  opened  for  boys  on 
October  28,  1822,  and  for  girls  three  days  later.  The  total 
cost,  including  the  site,  was  $11,887.03. 

In  the  mean  while,  on  April  5,  1822,  the  Society  received  a 
letter  from  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church  trustees,  stating  that  they 
had  made  plans  for  a  school  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Cathe- 
dral, and  complaining  that  the  action  of  the  Free  School  Society 
in  arranging  for  a  school  there  was  an  improper  interference 
with  them.  The  Trustees  of  the  Society  at  once  resolved  to 
submit  a  remonstrance  to  the  Legislature  against  the  special 
privileges  granted  to  the  Bethel  Church,  but  as  the  adjournment 
of  that  body  was  near  at  hand  nothing  was  done  at  the  time. 
In  August,  however,  the  Trustees  declared  their  position  by 
adopting  a  resolution  stating  that  they  would  use  all  means  in 
their  power  to  secure  the  repeal  of  the  objectionable  section 
(Section  3)  of  the  law  passed  in  1822  for  the  benefit  of  the 

1  See  Minutes,  March  13,  1822. 


50  The  New  York  Public  School 

church  mentioned,  on  the  ground  that  it  "  is  calculated  to  divert 
a  large  portion  of  the  common  school  fund  from  the  great  and 
beneficial  object  for  which  it  is  established,  and  to  apply  the 
same  for  the  promotion  of  private  and  sectarian  interests." 

Vigorous  action  followed.  A  committee  was  appointed  to 
confer  with  the  Corporation,  the  Commissioners  of  the  School 
Fund,  and  the  directors  of  the  various  institutions  entitled  to 
participate  in  the  school  moneys,  and  secure  their  co-operation 
in  procuring  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  law.  On  December  6th 
(1822)  a  memorial  addressed  to  the  Legislature  was  adopted  by 
the  Trustees,  in  which  they  claimed  that  the  five  schoolhouses 
built  by  them  were  "the  property  of  the  public,  for  the  per- 
petual reception  of  indigent  children,"  and  proceeded  to  say : 

"Your  memorialists  are  fully  convinced  of  the  wisdom  of  that  provision 
of  the  general  law  regulating  the  expenditures  of  the  common  school  fund, 
which  limits  the  appropriation  of  said  fund  to  the  payment  of  teachers  only ; 
and  they  believe  it  inexpedient,  and  contrary  to  the  original  intention  of  the 
Legislature,  that  any  part  thereof  should  be  applied  to  the  erection  of  build- 
ings, except  in  case  of  an  institution  expressly  incorporated  for  the  purposes 
of  educating  poor  children,  and  where  real  estate  virtually  becomes  the  property 
of  the  public." 

They  deplored  the  fact  that  under  the  law  objected  to  a 
portion  of  the  surplus  of  the  school  fund  might  be  devoted  to 
the  purchase  of  real  estate  or  to  the  erection  of  buildings  belong- 
ing, not  to  the  public,  but  to  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church,  which 
might  sell  the  same  and  convey  the  fee  to  others.  No  limit, 
the  memorial  continued,  was  set  to  the  number  of  children 
instructed  under  the  direction  of  that  church,  whose  share  of 
the  fund  would  thus  be  increased,  while  incompetent  teachers 
might  be  employed  at  low  salaries,  and  the  moneys  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  church  be  still  further  enhanced.  The  memorialists 
favored  "the  most  prudent  and  effectual  means  of  educating 
the  poor  children"  of  the  city,  whether  by  the  Free  School 
Society  or  by  other  means,  and  stated  that  in  the  prosecution 
of  their  work  they  had  incurred  a  debt  of  $16,000. 


Controversy  with  the  BetJul  Baptist  Church      51 

The  aid  of  the  Corporation  was  also  sought.  The  matter 
was  pressed  earnestly  upon  the  Legislature  at  the  session  of 
1823,  but  without  result.  "In  1823,  therefore,  'The  Free 
School  Society,'  with  a  number  of  the  church  schools,  with  the 
sanction  of  the  city  Corporation,  memorialized  for  a  repeal  of 
this  act,  but  from  ignorance  of  the  facts  in  the  case,  and  the 
lateness  of  the  session,  only  a  resolution  was  passed  requiring 
the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  to  report  in  detail  the 
expenditure  of  the  school  money,  and  the  manner  of  its  appro- 
priation by  the  various  societies  participating  in  it."  : 

The  Bethel  Baptist  Church  soon  had  three  schools  open, 
one  in  Delancey  street,  one  in  Bleecker  street,  and  a  third  in 
Vandam  street.  Their  effect  upon  the  schools  of  the  Society 
was  twofold.  "  In  the  first  place,"  to  quote  Mr.  Bourne,  "  they 
drew  away  pupils  from  the  free  schools,  and  diminished  their 
revenue;  and,  in  the  second  place,  by  absorbing  so  large  a 
share  of  the  school  money,  the  balance  to  be  distributed  among 
the  other  institutions  was  materially  diminished.  But  other 
mischiefs  were  in  the  immediate  future.  Several  religious 
denominations,  observing  the  special  privileges  thus  enjoyed 
by  one  of  their  number,  manifested  a  disposition  to  follow  the 
example,  by  enlarging  their  schools,  and  adapting  them  to  the 
wants  of  the  public  by  receiving  children  of  all  denominations. 
A  school  of  this  description  was  opened  in  Grace  Church ; 
another,  for  female  children,  by  the  Congregational  Church  in 
Chambers  street ;  and  a  third,  by  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church, 
in  large  rooms  in  Harmony  Hall,  at  the  corner  of  William  and 
Duane  streets  "  (pp.  63,  64). 

The  opposition  of  the  Free  School  Society  to  the  Baptist 
Church  did  not  wane  during  the  year  1823.  It  was  determined 
not  only  to  seek  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  third  section  of  the 
law  of  1822,  but  to  secure  such  an  amendment  as  would  "restrict 
the  religious  societies  to  what  was  justly  deemed  the  obvious 
intention  of  the  act  providing  for  their  participation  in  the 

1  Sketch,  1842,  p.  22. 


52  The  New  York  Public  School 

fund."  J  The  approval  and  assistance  of  the  city  authorities 
were  again  sought.  The  subject  was  fully  discussed  before  a 
committee  of  the  Common  Council,  and  early  in  1824  that  body 
unanimously  adopted  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  (which  was 
endorsed  by  the  Mayor),  approving  the  attitude  of  the  Free 
School  Society  as  the  principal  manager  of  gratuitous  educa- 
tion in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  asking  the  Legislature 
to  amend  the  law  relative  to  the  distribution  of  the  school 
fund  so  as  to  prevent  any  religious  societies  entitled  to  par- 
ticipate therein  "from  drawing  for  any  other  than  the  poor 
children  of  their  respective  congregations."  Before  the  memo- 
rial was  forwarded  to  Albany  a  special  meeting  of  the  Common 
Council  was  called2  to  reconsider  the  matter.  After  a  careful 
investigation  by  a  committee,  a  report  was  adopted,  without 
a  dissenting  voice,  declaring  the  proposed  law  to  be  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  the  preservation  of  the  Free  School 
Society  and  highly  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  community 
in  general. 

The  Society  also  prepared  a  memorial  for  presentation  to  the 
Legislature  of  1824,  reinforcing  the  position  taken  in  the  previous 
year,  and  this  paper  was  approved  by  several  religious  societies. 
The  churches  which  united  with  the  Free  School  Society  were 
the  following :  The  trustees  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in 
Mulberry  street,  the  pastor  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Oliver 
street,  the  president  and  secretary  of  the  consistory  of  the 
Reformed  Church  in  Market  street,  the  president  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  of  the  Rutgers  Street  Church,  the  pastor  and 
trustees  of  the  Bowery  Presbyterian  Church,  the  pastor  and 
the  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Central  Presby- 
terian Church  in  Broome  street,  the  president  and  clerk  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Brick  Presbyterian  Church  and  the 

1  Sketch,  1842,  p.  23. 

2  "At  the  request  of  two  highly  respectable  clergymen  in  the  city  of  New  York." 
—  BOURNE,  p.  67. 


Controversy  with  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church      53 

pastor  of  said  church,  and  the  trustees  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Murray  street.1 

An  interesting  review  of  the  proceedings  may  be  found  in 
the  appendix  to  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Society  for  1824, 
which  states  that  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church,  under  the  Rev. 
Johnson  Chase,  had  deliberately  entered  the  field  of  the  Free 
School  Society  and  materially  interfered  with  its  work.  In  the 
autumn  of  1823  the  church  opened  its  school  in  Vandam  street, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Free  School  No.  3,  and  the  immediate  effect 
was  to  draw  away  three  hundred  children  from  the  latter,  most 
of  whom,  however,  soon  after  returned  to  the  Society's  school. 
One  ground  of  complaint  was  that  the  church  employed  teachers 
at  low  salaries,  and  certificates  to  the  effect  that  in  the  church 
schools  there  was  a  lack  of  cleanliness,  order,  and  discipline 
were  attached  to  the  report.  In  the  three  Baptist  schools, 
while  1547  pupils  were  registered,  the  attendance  was  but 
886  —  a  very  significant  fact  in  view  of  the  provision  of  law 
that  the  school  fund  should  be  apportioned  in  accordance,  not 
with  the  attendance,  but  with  the  number  of  pupils  registered. 
In  one  school,  where  there  were  accommodations  for  only  300, 
the  registration  was  450.  Certificates  of  teachers  employed  in 
the  Bethel  Church  schools,  which  are  printed  in  the  appendix 
to  the  report  under  consideration,  showed  that  the  nominal  salary 
of  one  was  recorded  as  $900,  whereas  he  actually  received  $450, 
and  that  another,  whose  salary  was  $350,  consented  to  an 
arrangement  whereby  his  compensation  was  entered  on  the 
records  as  $600,  with  the  understanding  that  he  would  return 
$200  as  a  "donation."  The  account  further  points  out  that  the 
management  of  the  Baptist  Church  schools  tended  to  bring  the 
Lancasterian  system  into  disrepute. 

Although  a  report  favorable  to  the  Free  School  Society  was 
submitted  by  a  committee  of  the  Assembly  in  1824,  no  action 
was  taken  at  the  regular  session  of  the  Legislature.  The  com- 
mittee of  the  Society  having  the  matter  in  charge  prepared  for 

1  See  appendix  to  Annual  Report,  1824. 


54  The  New  York  Public  School 

a   renewed   active   campaign  at  the   special   session  called  in 
November  of  that  year. 

There  appears  to  have  been  very  strong  opposition  to  the 
proposed  repeal  on  the  part  of  other  churches  than  the  one 
most  directly  interested.  Mr.  Bourne  says:  "A  number  of 
gentlemen  also  appeared  at  the  Capitol  in  opposition  to  the 
bill,  among  whom  were  Rev.  Drs.  Milnor  and  Mathews,  Rev. 
Mr.  Onderdonk,  Rev.  M.  Hutton,  who  was  connected  with 
Dr.  Mathews'  congregation,  Rev.  Johnson  Chase,  and  others  " 

(PP.  73-74)-1 

To  the  surprise  of  all  concerned,  the  Legislature  amended 
the  bill  before  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  place  the  entire  matter 
of  the  (distribution  of  the  school  fund  for  New  York  City  in 
the  hands"  of  the  Common  Council,/ and  in  this  shape  it  was 
enacted,  on  November  19,  1824.  Thus  ended  the  first  of  the 
religious  controversies  with  which  the  career  of  the  Society 
was  checkered.  In  truth,  only  one  stage  of  the  controversy 
was  ended,  for  the  field  of  contest  was  now  transferred  to  the 
Common  Council,  the  proceedings  of  which  will  be  outlined  in 
the  next  chapter. 

1  A  footnote  in  Mr.  Boese's  History  (p.  105)  says:  "The  minutes  and  committee 
reports  of  the  Society  make  mention  in  several  places  of  the  strength  and  activity  of 
the  opposing  'lobby,'  and  particularly  name  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Chase,  Wainwright, 
Matthews,  Milnor,  Onderdonk,  and  some  others,  representing  the  Dutch,  Baptist,  and 
Episcopal  churches,  as  opposed  to  the  efforts  of  Rutgers,  Jay,  C.  D.  Golden,  and 
S.  Allen  "  (the  latter  representing  the  Free  School  Society). 


CHAPTER  VII 

PLANS  FOR  EXTENDING  THE   SOCIETY'S  WORK 

BY  the  law  passed  November  19,  1824,  the  question  of  deter- 
mining what  societies  should  participate  in  the  Common  School 
Fund  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Common  Council,  and 
a  prolonged  and  animated  discussion  took  place  before  com- 
mittees of  that  body  in  the  succeeding  year.  In  presenting  the 
views  of  the  Free  School  Society,  the  Trustees  brought  forward 
a  plan  for  a  change  in  their  working  basis  whereby  their  schools, 
which  hitherto  had  been  carried  on  exclusively  for  the  benefit 
of  children  entitled  to  a  gratuitous  education,  and  which  suf- 
fered in  consequence  from  the  stigma  that  they  were  charity 
schools,  should  receive  as  pupils  children  of  parents  able  and 
willing  to  pay  small  sums  for  the  education  of  their  offspring. 
They  stated  that  many  of  the  five  hundred  pay  schools  in  the 
city  were  kept  in  small  rooms,  without  sufficient  light  or  ven- 
tilation, and  without  due  regard  to  cleanliness ;  that  the  objec- 
tionable features  would  be  removed  by  the  establishment  of 
Lancasterian  pay  schools,  conducted  by  well-qualified  and  judi- 
cious teachers,  or  by  increasing  the  number  of  "  establishments  " 
of  the  Free  School  Society  and  opening  them  to  pay  scholars ; 
that  complaints  had  been  made  by  many  citizens  in  the  upper 
wards  of  the  city,  who  were  "  too  poor  to  send  their  numerous 
children  to  good  pay  schools,  and  yet  with  feelings  too  indepen- 
dent to  send  them  to  free  schools,"  that,  although  they  were 
taxed  for  the  promotion  of  education,  they  did  not  derive  any 
benefit  from  the  school  fund,  as  did  citizens  of  all  classes  in 
every  other  county  of  the  State.  The  Trustees  therefore  sug- 

55 


56  The  New  York  P^lblic  School 

gested  the  enlargement  of  the  scope  of  the  Society  and  a  cor- 
responding change  in  its  name. 

In  the  twentieth  Annual  Report  (for  1825)  mention  was 
made  of  the  great  benefits  to  be  derived  from  low-priced  pay 
schools  open  to  children  of  all  ranks  of  citizens. 

The  Trustees  estimated  that  each  of  the  schools  would  more 
than  half  support  itself  through  payments  made  by  pupils,  and 
that  in  new  schools  to  be  established  the  children  would  pay 
two-thirds  of  the  whole  cost.  The  balance  for  the  first  year 
under  the  proposed  system  was  figured  at  $10,500,  all  of  which, 
it  was  stated,  might  be  applied  to  the  purchase  of  lots  and  the 
building  of  new  schoolhouses.  The  event  will  show  how  widely 
astray  were  these  calculations. 

Several  religious  societies  maintaining  schools  presented 
petitions  to  the  Common  Council  in  favor  of  having  their  share 
in  the  school  fund  continued,  and  the  consideration  of  the  mat- 
ter before  the  Council  was  the  occasion  of  animated  debates  in 
the  year  1825.  (The  result  was  the  enactment  of  an  ordinance 
providing  that  the  Common  School  Fund  should  not  be  distrib- 
uted to  any  religious  societies,  but  only  to  the  Free  School 
Society,  the  Mechanics'  Society,  the  Orphan  Asylum  Society, 
and  the  trustees  of  the  African  Free  Schools. 

To  quote  again  from  the  Sketch  forming  a  part  of  the 
Annual  Report  for  1842:  "The  grounds  on  which  the  restric- 
tion was  advocated  were,  that  the  intention  of  the  law  of  1813, 
granting  the  church  schools  a  portion  of  the  funds  was  solely 
for  the  education  of  their  own  poor,  never  contemplating  an 
extension  of  their  schools  that  would  at  all  interfere  with  those 
of  the  Free  School  Society,  the  design  of  which  was  solely  the 
extension  of  common  schools,  and  especially  for  the  poor.  It 
was  considered  further  that  the  principles  that  had  heretofore 
guided  all  legislation  on  this  subject  were  infringed,  and  a  fund 
designed  for  civil  purpose's,  diverted  to  the  support  of  religious 
institutions,  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  acknowledged  princi- 
ples of  our  government,  —  which  has  ever  left  religion  to  be 


Plans  for  Extending  the  Society's  Work         57 

sustained  by  voluntary  contributions,  and  the  individual  effort 
and  patronage  of  its  own  votaries.  The  Committee  before 
whom  the  parties  were  heard,  reported  against  distributing  any 
portion  of  the  fund  to  the  schools  of  religious  societies,  and  in 
1825  introduced  an  ordinance,  which  was  unanimously  adopted, 
directing  the  distribution  to  be  made  to  'The  Free  School 
Society/  '  Mechanics'  Society,'  '  The  Orphan  Asylum  Society/ 
and  the  trustees  of  '  The  African  Schools.'  After  so  full  and 
mature  a  consideration  of  the  subject ;  and  the  unanimous  deci- 
sion which  designated  these  institutions  as  the  channels  of  dis- 
tribution of  the  school  fund ;  the  clearness  of  the  principles  on 
which  such  decision  was  founded;  the  Society  felt  that  the 
result  had  given  strength  and  permanency  to  their  institution ; 
and  believing,  from  a  long  practical  experience  of  the  plans  of 
their  schools,  and  of  the  efficiency  of  the  system  pursued,  that 
they  were  capable  of  affording  a  good  plain  English  education 
to  a  large  mass  of  children,  they  resolved  on  increased  efforts 
to  extend  them.  They  also  hoped  by  exertion  further  to  improve 
their  condition.  About  this  time,  learning  through  the  Com- 
mittee of  Correspondence,  that  success  had  attended  the  estab- 
lishment of  low  priced  schools  for  the  poor,  in  England,  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  on  the  system  of  Lancaster,  they  resolved  on  testing 
the  plan  "  (pp.  23,  24). 

Before  passing  on  to  a  consideration  of  the  important  change 
which  took  place  in  the  character  and  work  of  the  Society  in 
the  year  1826,  mention  must  be  made  of  a  number  of  matters  of 
considerable  importance  to  the  Society,  and  of  others  which 
cannot  but  have  a  certain  interest  for  students  of  the  city's 
earlier  educational  history. 

The  Almshouse  having  been  removed  to  the  section  known 
as  Bellevue  (where  Bellevue  Hospital  now  stands),  the  city 
authorities,  in  June,  1823,  proposed  that  the  Free  School  Society 
should  take  charge  of  the  pauper  children  and  organize  a  school 
there.  This  proposition  was  accepted,  and  School  No.  6  was 
opened  on  October  27,  1823,  in  the  presence  of  the  Mayor  and 


58  The  New  York  Public  School 

a  number  of  members  of  the  Common  Council.1  It  was  placed 
in  charge  of  Dr.  Charles  Belden,  whose  brother,  Joseph  Belden, 
was  the  teacher  of  No.  5.  Dr.  Belden  died,  after  two  years' 
service,  August  5,  1825.  He  was  educated  for  the  medical 
profession,  and  "in  a  spirit  of  true,  self-devoting  philanthropy, 
and  for  a  trifling  salary,  took  charge  of  and  lived  with  the  neg- 
lected little  ones  of  the  city's  charge  at  Bellevue,  No.  6,  having 
first  *  learned  the  system '  for  that  purpose  with  Mr.  Johnson  in 
No.  3."  Joseph  Belden  was  a  man  whose  "  powers  of  organiza- 
tion and  firm  yet  gentle  character,  and  skill  in  teaching  penman- 
ship, soon  made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  of  teachers."2 

On  January  10,  1823,  the  Trustees  took  action  in  the  direction 
of  abolishing  severe  corporal  punishment  in  their  schools,  in-  • 
structing  the  teachers  to  "  dispense  entirely  with  the  use  of  the 
Rod  or  Rattan,"  and  resolved,  "  in  case  any  children  should 
after  suitable  counsel  and  other  means  being  tried  still  continue 
refractory  and  disobedient,  that  they  may  be  corrected  with  a 
small  leather  strap  applied  to  the  palms  of  their  hands,  but  that 
they  be  struck  on  no  other  part  of  the  body,  and  should  all 
means  used  for  their  reformation  fail,  that  such  children  be 
discharged  by  the  Visiting  Committee  and  by  proclamation." 
At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Board  a  protest  was  received  from 
/  the  teacher  of  No.  i,  who  stated  that  the  order  of  his  school 
would  suffer  in  consequence  of  the  non-use  of  the  rattan.  The 
protest  was  laid  on  the  table,  but  at  this  meeting  it  was  resolved 
that  hand\>t  substituted  for  palm  of  hand  in  the  instructions  to 
teachers,  and  the  Committee  of  Supplies  was  directed  to  "  pro- 
cure suitable  straps  for  all  the  schools."  In  June  following, 
the  instructions  in  regard  to  the  use  of  straps  were  repealed, 
and  a  month  later  it  was  decided  that  in  cases  of  persistent 
bad  conduct  and  as  a  last  resort  teachers  might  correct  such 

1  This  school  was  transferred  after  a  few  years  to  Long  Island  Farms,  and  later  to 
Randall's  Island,  and  remained  under  the  care  of  the  Board  of  Education  until  May 
21,  1889,  when  it  was  discontinued. 

2  See  Boese,  pp.  37,  38. 


Plans  for  Extending  the  Society  s  Work         59 

children  "  in  a  moderate  way  with  a  leather  strap,  rod  or  rattan 
(but  on  no  account  to  strike  any  scholar  on  any  part  of  the 
head),"  and  expulsion  was  to  be  resorted  to  if  all  other  means 
failed. 

The  teachers  were  called  before  the  Board  of  Trustees  in 
the  matter  of  corporal  punishment  on  September  2,  1825,  on 
which  occasion  the  Trustees  expressed  their  disapprobation  of 
all  undue  severity  and  their  strong  desire  that  "mild  moral 
government  should  be  mostly  if  not  exclusively  used  in  the 
schools." 

The  minutes  of  the  meeting  held  on  October  3,  1823,  con- 
tain an  interesting  item  on  the  adoption  of  a  resolution  permit- 
ting "our  teachers  "  to  hold  evening  schools  during  the  pleasure 
of  the  Trustees,  "  provided  they  furnish  their  own  fuel  and  oil " 
and  make  good  all  damage  to  furniture,  etc.  This  can  scarcely 
be  considered  the  beginning  of  evening  schools  in  the  modern 
sense,  for  these  schools  were  not  free,  and  the  teachers  were  to 
reap  all  the  profits. 

Two  measures  were  taken  in  this  year  to  improve  the  char- 
acter of  the  Society's  schools.  One  was  the  division  of  the 
Trustees  (thirty-six  in  number)  into  "  sections  "  to  look  after  the 
interests  of  the  several  schools  —  an  arrangement  which  was 
continued  throughout  the  existence  of  the  Society.  The  other 
was  the  appointment  of  committees  of  ladies  to  inspect  the 
schools  for  girls  and  report  as  to  their  condition,  improvement, 
etc.1 

One  event  in  the  following  year  served  to  bring  the  work  of 
the  Free  School  Society  prominently  before  the  people  of  the 
city,  and  aided  materially  in  deepening  the  good  impression 
made  on  the  public  mind  by  the  schools  already  established, 
which  had  risen  in  the  popular  estimation  from  the  fact  that 
pauper  children  were  no  longer  taught  in  No.  i  (owing  to  the 

1  "  For  some  reason  which  does  not  appear  in  the  records  of  the  Society,  the  plan 
of  securing  the  assistance  and  counsel  of  the  ladies  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
successful."  —  BoEst,  p.  36. 


6p  The  New  York  Public  School 

removal  of  the  Almshouse  to  Bellevue)  and  from  the  sincerity 
and  devotion  of  the  teachers  in  charge. 

In  September,  1 824,  General  La  Fayette,  being  in  New  York 
during  the  course  of  his  second  visit  to  the  United  States,  was 
invited  to  inspect  the  work  of  the  Society.  On  the  loth  of  the 
month  he  was  escorted  to  School  No.  3,  where  a  certificate  of 
membership  in  the  Society  was  presented  to  him  by  Vice-Presi- 
dent  Bleecker  in  the  girls'  room  in  the  presence  of  "  many  of 
the  Trustees,  the  Mayor,  several  Aldermen  and  a  large  assemblage 
of  Ladies  and  Gentlemen."  "A  pretty  little  poetic  address  to 
the  General  was  then  spoken  in  concert  by  a  number  of  the 
Girls."  In  the  boys'  room  "  an  address  written  for  the  occasion 
was  delivered  by  a  small  lad  in  behalf  of  his  fellows."  About 
five  hundred  boys  and  three  hundred  girls  were  in  attendance.1 

In  the  afternoon,  at  2  o'clock,  La  Fayette  reviewed  some 
three  thousand  school  children  in  the  City  Hall  Park  (all  the 
schools  except  No.  6  being  represented),  in  the  presence  of  a 

1  The  visit  of  La  Fayette  to  No.  3  is  to  be  commemorated  by  the  erection  of  a 
tablet  bearing  the  following  inscription : 

ON    SEPTEMBER    IOTH,  1824 
MARQUIS   DE   LA   FAYETTE 

MAJOR  GENERAL  IN  THE  AMERICAN  ARMY 
DURING  THE  WAR  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

VISITED 

PUBLIC   SCHOOL  NO.   3 

WHICH  WAS   SELECTED   AS   THE   BEST    EXAMPLE  OF  THE  PUBLIC 

SCHOOL   SYSTEM   ESTABLISHED   BY  THE   FREE   SCHOOL 

SOCIETY   OF  THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 


IN   MEMORY   OF   THAT   EVENT 

THIS   TABLET 

IS  ERECTED   BY  A   FORMER  PUPIL  OF  THE   SCHOOL 

UNDER  THE  DIRECTION   OF  THE  BOARD   OF  EDUCATION 

A.D.    1905 

The  present  Public  School  3  stands  on  the  original  site  of  Free  School  No.  3 
(the  site  having  been  enlarged) ;  the  original  building,  which  had  been  altered  and 
repaired  many  times,  was  removed  in  1860  and  a  new  building  erected;  a  new  annex 
was  built  in  1888. 


Plans  for  Extending  the  Society's  Work         61 

large  and  enthusiastic  gathering  of  citizens.  The  report  of  the 
committee  in  charge  of  the  reception,  presented  to  the  Trustees 
on  October  ist,  closes  as  follows: 

"In  conclusion,  the  committee  have  much  pleasure  in  stating  their  be- 
lief that  the  proceedings  of  the  day  were  witnessed  by  the  General,  and  by 
thousands  of  our  citizens,  with  peculiar  interest,  and  that  all  were  gratified  by 
an  exhibition  of  the  state  and  magnitude  of  an  institution  whose  moral  and 
religious  influence  must  be  acknowledged,  and  whose  political  bearing  is 
expressed  in  the  motto  on  one  of  the  banners  used  on  this  occasion  — *  Educa- 
tion is  the  Basis  of  Free  Government.1  M1 

One  of  the  plans  adopted  to  stimulate  the  interest  of  teachers 
was  to  fix  the  salary  in  accordance  with  the  attendance.  The 
minutes  for  April  5,  1822,  show  that  the  teacher  in  charge  of 
No.  2  was  to  receive  $600  per  annum  for  200  scholars,  $2  each 
for  the  number  in  excess  of  200  but  not  more  than  250,  $1.50 
each  for  any  number  over  250  and  not  over  300,  and  $i  each 
for  the  number  in  excess  of  300.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
this  idea  was  adopted  in  other  schools,  and  it  does  not  appear 
to  have  become  permanent. 

f  On  August  2,  1822,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  consider 
and  report  "  on  the  propriety  of  instructing  some  of  the  oldest, 
most  orderly,  and  meritorious  of  our  scholars  in  some  of  the 
higher  branches  of  an  English  Education,  say  Grammar,  Geog- 
raphy, History,  Mathematics,  &c." 

The  three  following  excerpts  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board 
of  Trustees  speak  for  themselves :  * 

November  5,  1824:  "An  elegant  specimen  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence executed  by  Jotham  Wilson,2  Monitor-General  of  No.  2,  being 

1  At  their  meeting  on  October  I,  1824,  the  Trustees  expressed  formal  thanks  for 
the  loan  of  rope  used  in  the  Park  (apparently  to  hold  the  crowd  of  spectators  in 
check).    The  minutes  for  November  5th  contain  the  following  item  in  the  report  of 
the  Treasurer : 

"Crackers  and  Cheese  for  children  and  carriage 

hire  attending  La  Fayette $10.60  and  27.43  .  .  38.03." 

2  Jotham  Wilson  was  appointed  teacher  of  No.  9  in  1827,  and  served  as  such  until 
1832. 


62  The  New  York  Public  School 

designed  by  him  to  remain  in  the  school,  Joseph  Grinnel  {sic)  was  appointed 
to  have  it  framed  and  also  to  present  him  with  a  suit  of  clothes  not  exceeding 
in  cost  25  Dollars  as  a  reward  for  this  meritorious  specimen  of  Penmanship." 

November  2,  1825  :  "A  handsome  specimen  of  needlework  executed  and 
presented  to  the  Trustees  by  Elizabeth  Onderdonk  a  pupil  in  No.  3  was  ordered 
to  be  framed  under  the  direction  of  the  Committee  of  Supplies  and  hung  in  the 
Session  Room." x 

January  6,  1826:  "A  note  was  received  from  Eliza  W.  Windsor  [appar- 
ently the  wife  of  Lloyd  D.  Windsor,  for  twenty  years  teacher  of  No.  i]  pre- 
senting to  the  Trustees  an  elegant  framed  specimen  of  needlework  worked  by 
Mary  E.  Ferguson,  a  girl  of  13  years  of  age  and  a  pupil  in  No.  i.  This  sample 
was  accepted  and  it  was  Resolved  That  the  Committee  of  Supplies  present  each 
of  the  Girls  and  also  Elizabeth  Onderdonk  of  School  No.  3,  who  worked  the 
La  Fayette  sampler  with  a  Plaid  Cloak  or  other  suitable  reward." 

1  The  minutes  do  not  state  where  the  meetings  of  the  Trustees  were  held  at  this 
time.  On  December  20,  1826,  they  decided  to  meet  in  No.  i,  fitting  up  the  "  trustees' 
room"  for  the  purpose. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   PUBLIC   SCHOOL  SOCIETY  — THE  PAY   SYSTEM 

i 

As  the  first  step  in  the  extension  of  the  Society's  work, 
foreshadowed  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  Trustees  bent  their 
efforts  towards  obtaining  a  new  charter  from  the  Legislature. 
On  the  28th  of  January,  1826,  they  secured  the  enactment  of 
a  law  changing  the  name  of  the  Society  to  The  Public  School 
Society  of  New  York;  increasing  the  number  of  Trustees  to 
fifty  (the  Trustees  so  chosen  to  add  fifty  more  to  their  number, 
in  their  discretion),  the  Mayor  and  Recorder  being  made  ex 
officio  members  of  the  Board ;  making  the  fee  for  life  member- 
ship in  the  Society  $10;  and  authorizing  the  Trustees  to  require 
a  "  moderate  compensation  "  from  pupils  entering  their  schools, 
with  a  proviso  that  payment  might  be  omitted  whenever  deemed 
advisable  and  that  no  child  should  be  denied  the  benefits  of 
education  on  the  ground  of  inability  to  pay.  Another  important 
provision  was  the  following :  „- 

"  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  said  Society  is  hereby  authorized  to 
convey  their  (sic)  school  edifices  and  other  real  estate  to  the  Mayor,  Aldermen 
and  Commonalty  of  the  city  of  New  York,  upon  such  terms  and  conditions,  and 
in  such  forms  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  between  the  parties,  taking  back  from  the 
said  Corporation  a  perpetual  lease  thereof,  upon  condition  that  the  same  shall 
be  exclusively  and  perpetually  applied  to  the  purposes  of  education." 

High  hopes  were  entertained  of  a  great  expansion  of  the 
Society's  labors  and  usefulness  under  the  new  order  of  things. 
A  committee  was  immediately  appointed  to  select  sites  for  two 
new  schoolhouses.  Arrangements  had  previously  been  made 
for  a  new  school  on  the  east  side  of  Chrystie  street,  near  Hester, 
and  the  seventh  school  of  the  Society  was  opened  on  May  i, 

63 


64  The  New  York  Public  School 

1826,  the  day  before  that  on  which  the  new  pay  system  went 
into  effect. 

Preparatory  to  this,  the  Trustees,  on  the  2Oth  of  April,  issued 
an  address  to  "  The  Parents  of  the  Children  attending  the  Free 
Schools."  It  was  ordered  to  be  published  in  the  newspapers, 
and  10,000  copies  were  printed  in  the  form  of  a  " broadside" 
for  general  distribution.  The  address  called  attention  to  the 
change  in  the  name  of  the  Society  and  to  the  fact  that  the 
children  of  the  rich  and  poor  would  now  be  brought  together 
on  a  common  basis.  The  following  "  very  low  rates  of  charges  " 
were  announced  : 

"  For  the  Alphabet,  Spelling  and  Writing  on  Slates  as  far  as  the 

3d  Class  inclusive 25  cts  per  Qr 

"Continuance  of  above,  with  Reading  and  Arithmetical 

Tables,  or  the  4th,  5th,  and  6th  Classes  .  .  .  50  cts  per  Qr 

"  Continuance  of  last,  with  Writing  on  Paper,  Arithmetic,  and 

Definitions,  or  the  7th,  8th,  and  gth  Classes  .  .  .  I  oo  cts  per  Qr 

"  The  preceding,  with  Grammar,  Geography,  with  the  use  of 
Maps  and  Globes,  Book-keeping,  History,  Composition, 
Mensuration,  Astronomy  &c 2  oo  cts  per  Qr 

<c  No  additional  charge  for  instruction  in  Needlework,  nor  for 
Fuel,  Books,  or  Stationery." 

A  similar  address  "To  the  Parents  and  Guardians  of  Chil- 
dren belonging  to  the  New  York  Public  Schools  "  was  put  forth 
in  the  following  year  (1827),  in  which  emphasis  was  laid  on 
punctuality,  clean  hands,  neatly  combed  hair,  etc.  This  address 
contained  the  following : 

"  4th.  Your  children  are  required  to  attend  some  place  of  Public  Worship 
regularly.  This  is  one  of  the  conditions  of  their  admission  into  the  school, 
and  we  expect  a  compliance  with  it,"  etc. 

The  twenty-first  Annual  Report,  presented  to  the  Society  in 
May,  1826,  referred  briefly  to  the  new  regime,  in  the  following 
words  :  "  This  new  system  of  receiving  pay  from  those  scholars 
whose  parents  have  the  ability,  commenced  on  the  second  of 
this  month.  Although  the  change  is  an  important  one,  giving 


The  Public  School  Society —  The  Pay  System     65 

the  Trustees  and  Teachers  much  additional  labour,  we  hope  to 
introduce  it  with  success.  This,  however,  will  require  constant 
attention  for  some  weeks,  as  many  of  the  parents  who  are  able 
to  pay,  require  an  explanation  personally  from  the  Trustees  " 
(pp.  5,  6). 

This  report  also  made  mention  of  an  important  change  in 
the  administration  of  the  Society  through  the  creation  of  an 
Executive  Committee,  composed  of  the  President,  Vice-President, 
Treasurer,  and  Secretary  of  the  Board,  five  Trustees  elected 
annually,  the  chairmen  of  the  other  standing  committees,  and 
the  chairman  of  each  of  the  school  sections.  Besides  other 
powers,  the  Executive  Committee  had  power  to  appoint  teachers 
at  salaries  designated  by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  It  exerted 
very  large  influence  on  the  affairs  of  the  Society.  It  was  uni- 
formly composed  of  able  and  influential  men,  and  its  decisions 
rarely  failed  to  be  approved  by  the  full  Board. 

In  pursuance  of  their  plans  of  expansion,  the  Trustees  early 
in  1826  purchased  a  site  in  Grand  street,  between  Wooster 
and  Lauren s  (now  West  Broadway),  and  immediate  steps  were 
taken  toward  putting  up  a  building,  which  was  opened  as 
No.  8  in  the  following  November.  In  the  mean  time,  negotia- 
tions had  been  entered  into  for  the  transfer  to  the  Society  of  a 
small  school  at  Bloomingdale —  noted  in  the  minutes  (May  12, 
1826)  as  being  "about  six  miles  from  this  city" — which  had 
been  attached  to  St.  Michael's  Church,  and  which  was  to  be  dis- 
continued because  deprived  of  its  share  in  the  Common  School 
Fund  under  the  new  law.  The  Trustees  of  the  Society  felt  a 
certain  moral  responsibility  in  the  matter,  as  they  had  been 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  cutting  off  of  public  moneys  from 
church  schools ;  and,  although  the  school  was  small  and  carried 
on  in  an  inadequate  and  inconvenient  building,  it  was  taken 
over  in  May,  1826,  and  became  the  Society's  ninth  school.  As 
it  contained  no  more  than  sixty  children,  of  both  sexes,  its  main- 
tenance, as  stated  in  the  Annual  Report  for  1827,  was  regarded 
as  "  a  very  considerable  tax  on  the  funds  of  the  Society."  The 


66  The  New  York  Public  School 

school  was  removed,  in  1830,  to  a  new  building  erected  in 
Eighty-first  street. 

In  the  latter  part  of  1826  and  early  in  1827  two  new  sites 
were  obtained  by  the  Trustees  :  one  in  Duane  street,  near 
Church,  and  the  other  in  Wooster  street,  near  Bleecker. 
School  No.  10,  on  the  Duane  street  site,  was  opened  in  Novem- 
ber, 1827,  and  School  No.  u,  in  Wooster  street,  in  September, 
1828.  , 

How  the  work  of  the  Public  School  Society  was  regarded  at 
this  time  may  be  inferred  from  a  passage  extracted  from  a  book 
published  in  1827,  entitled  The  Description  of  the  City  of  New 
York  by  James  Hardie,  A.M.  Mr.  Hardie  said: 

"This  institution  [the  Society  established  by  the  act  of  April  9,  1805] 
has,  no  doubt,  been  very  beneficial  to  those,  for  whose  benefit  it  was  organized, 
and  in  the  year  1825,  instead  of  one  Free  School,  the  number  had  increased  to 
six,  all  of  which  were  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The  teachers  were  indefati- 
gable, as  well  as  intelligent ;  and  the  progress  of  their  pupils  was  highly  satisfac- 
tory "  (p.  234). 

Referring  to  the  Trustees'  address  in  which  the  change  in 
the  name  of  the  Society  is  mentioned,  Mr.  Hardie  remarked : 
"  Their  reasons  are  so  satisfactory,  that  men  of  intelligence 
will  readily  admit  that  they  have  made  a  very  important  im- 
provement, in  the  mode  of  conducting  our  common  schools." 
After  enumerating  the  seven  schools  completed  and  two  under 
way,  he  continued : 

"  Of  the  superior  excellence  of  the  new  plan,  there  seems  to  be  but  one  opinion 
among  our  citizens.  Crowds,  delighted  with  the  idea  of  getting  a  good  educa- 
tion for  their  children,  'without  being  considered  in  the  light  of  paupers,  are 
pressing  forward  to  the  schools  with  their  beloved  offspring,  and  it  is  highly 
probable,  that  in  the  short  space  of  one  year,  the  number  of  these  establish- 
ments will  be  twice  as  many  as  at  present." 

The  great  expectations  entertained  by  the  Trustees  and 
friends  of  the  Society  in  1826  were  doomed  to  speedy  disap- 
pointment. No  long  time  was  required  to  convince  them  that 
the  anticipated  results  of  the  pay  system  were  not  to  be  realized. 


The  Public  School  Society —  The  Pay  System     67 

An  elaborate  report  presented  to  the  Board  on  February  2, 
1827,  showed  that  on  April  30,  1826  (two  days  before  the  new 
system  went  into  effect),  the  number  of  pupils  in  the  public 
schools  was  3457,  while  on  November  ist,  six  months  later,  the 
number  had  fallen  to  2999,  and  the  very  significant  comment 
was  made  that  many  of  the  parents  were  "  too  poor  to  pay  and 
too  proud  to  confess  their  poverty." 

The  falling-off  was  attributed  to  the  tuition  fees  and  to  the 
fact  that  the  doors  of  several  large  church  schools  had  been 
opened  free  to  all.  It  was  found  that  very  few  pupils  took  the 
advanced  studies  and  paid  $2  a  quarter ;  the  number  of  these 
was  137  during  the  first  quarter,  dropping  to  39  for  the  second, 
and  to  only  13  for  the  third.  The  committee  presenting  the 
report  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  true  and  legitimate  system 
for  the  public  schools  would  be  to  open  the  doors  to  all  classes 
of  children,  free  of  expense ;  but  this  patriotic  and  far-sighted 
suggestion  did  not  meet  with  favor,  and  the  experiment  was 
continued  for  some  time  longer. 

In  the  Annual  Report  for  1827  the  Trustees  "still  cherish 
the  belief  "  that  the  system  of  low-priced  pay  schools  "  will  be 
productive  of  increased  benefits  to  the  poorer  classes  of  children, 
and  by  opening  the  doors  of  the  public  schools  to  those  in 
the  middle  walks  of  life,  will  greatly  extend  their  usefulness." 
They  add  : 

"  The  Board  have  however  to  regret,  that  the  advantages  of 
this  alteration  to  the  poor  themselves,  have  not  been  so  fully 
appreciated  by  them  as  was  anticipated  —  that  a  few  of  their 
children  have  left  the  schools  on  this  account,  and  that  the 
number  of  free  scholars  continues  too  large.  This  may  be 
ascribed,  in  great  measure,  to  the  force  of  their  long-continued 
habits,  to  their  not  fully  understanding  the  nature  and  bene- 
ficial operation  of  the  change  on  themselves  and  children,  and 
to  the  continuance  and  enlargement  of  many  charity  schools  in 
various  parts  of  the  city.  The  Board  are  satisfied,  however, 
that  the  new  system  will  bear  the  test  of  continued  experience, 


68  The  New  York  Public  School 

and  believe  that  a  little  more  time,  and  such  verbal  and  other 
explanations  as  will  be  extended  to  the  class  in  question,  will 
alter  their  present  views,  and  lead  them  to  embrace  with  alacrity 
the  offered  blessing  of  an  education  for  their  children,  for  which 
they  are  permitted  to  pay  a  sum,  sufficient  to  maintain  those 
feelings  of  independence  which  every  philanthropist  must  desire 
to  foster,  but  which  is  too  small  to  interfere  with  their  comfort 
and  convenience  in  other  respects  "  (pp.  4,  5). 

The  Treasurer's  statement  attached  to  the  report  shows 
receipts  of  $4426.04  "cash  from  pay  scholars." 

An  extract  from  the  Sketch  of  1842  (pp.  24-25)  is  pertinent 
here :  "  Under  the  new  system  now  adopted,  all  classes  were 
invited  to  attend  the  Public  Schools,1  and  it  was  hoped  that  the 
commingling  of  the  children  of  the  poor,  with  those  of  parents 
in  more  affluent  circumstances,  would  be  mutually  beneficial, 
and  would  tend  to  produce  a  good  tone  of  feeling  between  the 
different  classes  of  the  people.  The  Trustees  also  thought  that 
in  cherishing  a  spirit  of  independence  among  the  poor,  which 
philanthropists  had  ever  thought  it  desirable  to  foster,  and 
which  in  this  instance  they  might  maintain  at  so  trifling  a  cost, 
as  in  most  cases  not  at  all  to  interfere  with  their  comfort  or  con- 
venience, they  would  meet  with  no  obstacles  on  their  part  to  its 
full  success.  During  the  first  year  of  the  experiment,  out  of 
4654  scholars,  1690  were  on  the  free  list;  and  the  amount  of 
tuition  fees  was  $4426.  During  the  following  year,  the  Board 
had  to  regret  that  a  measure  so  well  calculated  to  elevate  the 
character  of  the  poor,  and  otherwise  benefit  them,  was  not  by 
them  duly  appreciated ;  many  of  their  children  left  during  the 
year,  the  free  list  increased,  and  the  amount  of  tuition  was 
reduced  to  $3087.  Some  considered  the  first  quarterly  payment 
as  an  initiation  fee,  to  constitute  them  registered  scholars,  not 
expecting  to  be  called  upon  again.  Others  were  desirous  of 
making  a  first  payment,  even  though  strictly  entitled  to  be  on 

1  This  is  the  language  used  in  the  Sketch  as  reprinted  in  1848  (Annual  Report, 
pp.  23,  24),  varying  slightly  from  the  form  of  1842. 


The  Public  School  Society  —  The  Pay  System     69 

the  free  list;  and  others  again  made  payment  for  the  first 
quarter,  thereby  to  enter  the  children  as  pay  scholars,  to  avoid 
the  odium,  as  they  may  have  felt  it  to  be,  of  coming  on  the  free 
list.  The  distinction  arising  from  this  course  originated  deeper 
prejudices  than  could  have  been  anticipated,  and  it  was  soon 
found  that  a  plan  that  had  operated  so  well  abroad,  under 
different  circumstances,  was  not  suited  to  our  republican 
population,  .  .  ." 

In  1828  the  Executive  Committee  strongly  urged  that  the 
schools  should  be  made  free  to  all  children,  and  advanced  in 
grade  so  as  to  attract  to  them  the  children  of  the  more  favored 
classes. 

On  the  subject  of  the  pay  system  the  Annual  Report  for 
1829  contained  the  following  statement:  "The  Board  are  not 
prepared  to  say  that  the  reasoning  on  which  the  pay  system 
was  introduced  into  the  public  schools  was  erroneous ;  but  they 
have  no  regret  that  in  practice  it  has  not  succeeded  so  fully  as 
they  anticipated." 

The  receipts  continued  to  fall  off,  the  report  for  1830  show- 
ing that  pay  scholars  had  contributed  $1923.78.  A  year  later 
the  amount  had  dropped  to  $1366.24.  In  this  year  (1831)  it 
was  decided  to  require  no  fee  for  tuition  unless  the  payment 
was  entirely  voluntary  on  the  part  of  parents  or  guardians,  and 
the  maximum  charge  was  reduced  from  $2  to  $i.  The  amount 
reported  for  the  last  year  the  system  was  in  operation  (1831-1832) 
was  only  $534.82,!  and  on  February  3,  1832,  the  pay  system 
was  abolished,  after  having  been  tried  for  nearly  six  years. 
Henceforward  the  schools  of  the  Public  School  Society  were 
absolutely  free. 

("Apprehending,"  says  the  Annual  Report  for  1832,  "that 
the  small  sum  heretofore  demanded  for  tuition  from  those  whose 

1  So  the  "  Summary  of  the  Treasurer's  Account  from  May  5th,  1831,  to  May  4th, 
1832,"  printed  in  the  Annual  Report  for  1832.  The  Sketch  of  1842  (p.  32)  says  : 
"The  last  amount  of  revenue  from  the  pay  schools,  $839,  was  paid  in  1831  and  '32." 
A  similar  statement  is  made  by  Boese  (p.  59). 


70  The  New  York  Public  School 

circumstances  seemed  to  justify  it,  might  tend  to  diminish  the 
number  of  pupils,  without  materially  enhancing  the  revenues  of 
the  Society,  and  having  a  prospect  of  ample  funds  in  future,  it 
has  been  deemed  expedient  to  abolish  the  pay  system  entirely, 
and  open  the  doors  of  the  Public  Schools  to  all  who  might  choose 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  liberal  provision  now  made  for  gen- 
eral education  —  and  efforts  are  making  to  impress  the  minds  of 
the  poor  with  the  fact,  that  admission  to  these  Schools  is  not  a 
boon  to  be  solicited,  but  a  right  which  they  may  demand  "  (p.  4). 
In  reviewing  this  subject  Mr.  Bourne  says  : 

"  The  recent  enactments  of  the  Legislature,  by  which  the  income  of 
the  Society  was  much  increased,  together  with  the  fact  that  the  pay  system 
was  deemed  by  some  to  be  a  compulsory  method  of  making  the  people  pay 
twice  for  their  schools,  combined  with  the  pittance  from  that  source,  induced 
the  Society  to  adopt  the  recommendation  of  the  Treasurer,  and  it  was 
abolished  by  a  resolution  of  the  board  on  the  3d  of  February,  1832,  after  a 
trial  of  five  years,  during  which  every  effort  had  been  made  to  remove  objec- 
tion, hold  out  inducements,  and  make  the  system  contribute  to  inspire  self- 
respect  and  self-reliance  in  the  minds  of  those  who  were  chiefly  benefitted  by  the 
schools.  The  numerous  cases  of  deception,  and  the  excuses  of  every  kind  which 
were  resorted  to  in  order  to  evade  payment,  and  the  expedients  to  obtain  a  place 
on  the  register  as  pay  pupils,  without  any  intention  of  complying  with  the 
rules,  were  very  mortifying  to  the  Society,  who  found  so  general  a  disregard 
of  fine  moral  sense  among  the  people.  It  was,  therefore,  a  source  of  relief  to 
be  able  to  abolish  the  system,  under  the  prosperous  condition  in  which  the 
institution  had  been  placed  by  the  liberal  endowment  of  the  Legislature  " 
(pp.  626,  627). 


CHAPTER   IX 

THE   SOCIETY'S   RESOURCES   INCREASED 

WE  will  now  return  to  the  year  1828,  in  the  early  part  of 
which  (February  I5th)  an  important  address  was  issued  to  the 
public  by  the  Society,  outlining  extensive  plans  for  the  future 
of  the  public  schools.  This  address  is  deserving  of  more  than 
casual  attention.  To  quote  the  historian  of  the  Society : 

"This  address  develops  the  germ  of  many  of  the  plans  and  measures 
which  have  since  that  time  been  made  a  part  of  the  system  of  popular  educa- 
tion in  the  city,  and  is  valuable  as  a  presentation  of  the  philanthropic  and 
enlarged  views  which  were  realized  years  afterward  in  part  by  the  Society,  but 
more  fully  under  the  change  of  system  in  1842,  when  the  Board  of  Education 
was  organized"  (Bourne,  p.  no). 

The  address  was  adopted  at  the  meeting  at  which  the  death 
of  De  Witt  Clinton,  the  honored  President  of  the  Society  from 
its  establishment,  was  announced,1  and  it  is  not  improbable  that 
this  stirring  document  was  largely  the  work  of  his  hand :  if  so, 
it  is  entitled  to  remembrance  as  the  last  of  his  unremitting  efforts 
for  the  good  of  his  fellow-men. 

The  address,  in  pointing  out  the  inadequacy  of  the  existing 
system  of  instruction,  showed  by  careful  estimates  that  upwards 

1  Clinton  died  suddenly,  while  holding  the  office  of  Governor  of  the  State,  on 
February  n,  1828.  The  resolution  adopted  by  the  Trustees  stated  that  "we  view 
this  event  as  a  signal  calamity  to  our  country,  to  the  cause  of  science  and  public 
improvement,  and  the  many  useful  institutions  of  which  the  deceased  was  a  dis- 
tinguished ornament  and  patron  ;  that  he  occupied  a  large  place  in  the  affection 
and  respect  of  his  countrymen,  as  one  of  the  most  able  and  successful  benefactors ; 
and  that,  as  connected  with  this  and  similar  associations,  the  cause  of  literature  and 
benevolence  has  sustained  in  his  death  an  unspeakable  and  irreparable  loss." 

71 


72  The  New  York  Public  School 

of  twelve  thousand  children  in  the  city  between  the  ages  of  five 
and  fifteen  were  "  entirely  destitute  of  the  means  of  instruction," 
without  taking  into  account  the  "  children  of  tenderer  years  who 
ought  to  be  introduced  into  infant  schools."  The  Trustees  struck 
the  keynote  of  their  future  policy  when  they  said  that  the  "  com- 
mon schools  are  not  the  proper  objects  of  a  parsimonious  policy, 
but  are  entitled  to  an  endowment  not  less  munificent  than  the 
best  of  our  institutions.  Neither  the  sick  nor  the  destitute  have 
higher  claims  upon  us  than  the  ignorant.  The  want  of  knowl- 
edge is  the  most  imperative  of  all  wants,  for  it  brings  all  others 
in  its  train."  The  address  said,  further :  "  We  hold  that  there 
is  no  object  of  greater  magnitude  within  the  whole  range  of 
legislation,  no  more  imperative  demand  for  public  revenue,  than 
the  establishment  of  competent  schools  and  seminaries  of  learn- 
ing. We  hold  that,  in  the  nature  of  things,  nothing  can  be 
better  entitled  to  a  share  of  the  public  revenue  than  that  from 
which  private  and  public  wealth  derive  all  their  value  and 
security.  In  short,  our  schools  are  the  very  foundation  upon 
which  rest  the  peace,  good  order,  and  prosperity  of  society." 

While  the  recent  change  of  the  free  schools  into  public 
schools  (the  address  proceeded)  had  to  a  considerable  extent 
removed  public  instruction  from  its  degrading  associations  with 
poverty  and  charity,  still  the  result  had  not  been  so  extensive 
as  was  expected.  The  Trustees  expressed  the  hope  of  seeing 
public  schools  so  endowed  and  provided  that  they  should  be 
equally  desirable  for  all  classes  of  society,  and  announced  the 
principle,  which  has  since  become  so  firmly  established,  that  the 
schools  "  should  be  supported  from  the  public  revenue,  should 
be  public  property,  and  should  be  open  to  all,  not  as  a  charity, 
but  as  a  matter  of  common  right."  They  proposed  to  establish 
''infant  schools,"  for  children  from  three  to  six,  greatly  to  enlarge 
the  number  of  schools  in  which  "  a  common  English  educa- 
tion is  taught,"  to  establish  one  or  more  high  schools,  in  which 
should  be  taught  practical  mathematics,  natural  philosophy, 
bookkeeping,  etc.,  a  classical  school,  and  "  a  seminary  for  the 


PRESIDENTS  OF  THE   PUBLIC   SCHOOL  SOCIETY 

1.    Henry  Rutgers.     2.    Robert  C.  Cornell.     3.   George  T.  Trimble. 

4.    Peter  Augustus  Jay.     5.    Lindley  Murray 


The  Society's  Resources  Increased  73 

education  of  at  least  such  teachers  as  are  required  for  common 
schools." 

In  order  to  carry  out  these  plans,  the  address  recommended 
a  tax  of  half  a  mill  upon  the  dollar  of  assessed  city  property, 
and  in  support  of  this  project  appealed  to  the  wealthy  in  these 
words :  "  We  submit  to  the  liberal  consideration  of  the  rich, 
whether  their  proportion  of  this  money,  expended  for  the  pur- 
pose of  disseminating  wholesome  knowledge  and  pure  morals, 
would  not  be  a  profitable  investment  for  their  children ;  and 
whether  their  bonds  and  mortgages  and  public  stocks  are  alto- 
gether beyond  the  reach  of  public  opinion,  and  of  that  which 
must  ultimately  depend  upon  public  opinion  —  the  administra- 
tion of  the  laws  ? "  The  Trustees  also  pleaded  for  the  breaking 
down  of  the  spirit  of  caste  produced  by  ignorance,  as  a  powerful 
motive  for  extending  the  means  of  education. 

Copies  of  the  address  were  extensively  circulated  (5000 
being  printed),  and  a  petition  to  the  Legislature  in  favor  of  the 
proposed  tax,  which  was  circulated  during  the  remainder  of  the 
year,  received  upwards  of  4000  signatures.1  The  work  of  arous- 
ing public  sentiment  was  prosecuted  with  vigor  throughout  the 
year  1828;  the  aid  of  the  Common  Council  was  sought  and 
obtained,  that  body  presenting  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature  in 
favor  of  the  tax  but  in  reduced  amount.  The  Legislature  of 
1829  passed  an  act  levying  a  tax,  not  of  half  a  mill  as  desired 
by  the  Society,  but  of  one-eightieth  of  one  per  cent.  The  Trus- 
tees were  disappointed  on  receiving  only  one-fourth  of  what  they 
had  asked  for,  but  nevertheless  were  enabled  to  carry  into  effect 
a  part  of  the  plans  for  the  enlargement  of  their  work.  The  pay 
system,  fully  described  in  the  preceding  chapter,  was  continued ; 
and  the  proposed  high,  classical,  and  normal  schools  could  not 
be  established. 

Some  relief  was  afforded  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  by  an  act 
passed  at  the  same  session  of  the  Legislature  authorizing  the 

1  It  was  "  signed  by  nearly  five  thousand  of  our  most  respectable  citizens,  com- 
prising the  names  of  a  large  portion  of  the  tax-paying  community." — Sketch,  1 842,  p.  28. 


74  The  New  York  Public  School 

Society  to  mortgage  its  real  estate,  and  legalizing  its  action  in 
raising  loans  by  mortgages  previously  executed. 

While  the  question  of  the  tax  was  before  the  Common 
Council,  a  careful  inquiry  was  instituted,  on  behalf  of  that  body, 
regarding  all  the  schools  of  the  city,  their  general  character,  the 
number  of  pupils,  etc.  Regarding  this  the  Annual  Report  for 
1829  says: 

"  Much  valuable  information  was  thus  collected,  and  a  correct  and  very 
interesting  view  of  the  state  of  education  in  New  York  was  obtained.  ...  It 
appears  that,  about  the  ist  of  February,  the  whole  number  of  schools,  of  every 
class  and  quality  (other  than  Sabbath),  from  Columbia  College  down  to  the 
most  indifferent,  was  463,  under  the  charge  of  484  principals  and  311  assist- 
ant teachers,  and  containing  24,952  pupils.  Of  which  numbers,  our  institu- 
tion, in  ii  buildings,  counted  21  schools,  with  21  principals  and  24  assistant 
teachers  (or  monitors),  and  6007  children.  .  .  .  The  cost  of  educating  the 
children  in  our  schools  may  be  estimated  at  $2.75  each  per  annum,  exclusive 
of  interest  on  the  buildings ;  and  including  the  latter,  it  does  not  exceed  $4, 
or  $i  per  quarter,  .  .  ." 

An  abstract  of  this  school  census  was  included  in  the  Sketch 
of  1842,  in  tabular  form,  and  is  of  sufficient  interest  to  be 
reproduced  (see  opposite  page). 

The  committee  of  the  Common  Council  drew  "  the  appalling 
inference  that  there  are  20,000  children  between  the  ages  of  5 
and  15  who  attend  no  schools  whatever."  The  Trustees  add: 
"  If  one  third  be  deducted  from  this  number,  as  having  prob- 
ably left  school  previous  to  the  age  of  15,  and  3000  more  for  any 
possible  error  in  the  data  on  which  the  calculation  is  founded, 
we  have  still  the  enormous  number  of  10,000  who  are  growing 
up  in  entire  ignorance  "  (Annual  Report,  1829). 

In  the  Annual  Report  for  1827  reference  was  made  to  "a 
proposition  for  the  establishment  of  a  Central  School  for  the 
instruction  of  teachers,"  as  having  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
Board ;  but,  it  was  added,  "  as  considerable  diversity  of  senti- 
ment relative  to  it  was  manifested,  it  has  not  been  finally  acted 
upon."  This  was  the  germ  of  the  normal  schools  established  a 


The  Society's  Resources  Increased 


75 


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^      ^      2?      8 

WHOLE  NUMBER 
OF  PUPILS 

76  The  New  York  Public  School 

few  years  later :  a  school  of  this  character  was  one  of  those 
contemplated  in  the  address  of  1828. 

As  already  stated,  the  address  just  mentioned  favored  the 
establishment  of  "infant  schools  "  throughout  the  city,  to  receive 
children  from  three  to  six  years  of  age.  No  time  was  lost  in 
putting  this  idea  into  partial  effect.  A  so-called  "junior  depart- 
ment" had  already  been  organized  in  the  basement  of  Public 
School  8  (in  Grand  street),  in  charge  of  a  woman  principal  and 
a  monitress,  who  received  salaries  of  $200  and  $75  respectively. 
Children  of  three  years,  and  some  even  younger,  were  admitted. 
Hitherto  children  of  all  grades  had  been  taught,  under  the 
Lancasterian  system,  in  one  department. 

The  plan  of  infant  schools,  in  accordance  with  the  ideas  of 
Pestalozzi,  had  shortly  before  been  taken  up  with  much  interest 
in  this  country,  and  a  number  of  such  schools  had  been 
opened  in  different  cities)1,  Early  in  1827  the  Infant  School 
Society  was  established  in  New  York,  and  under  its  direction  a 
school  was  opened,  in  July  of  that  year,  in  the  basement  of  the 
Canal  Street  Presbyterian  Church.  Children  from  two  to  six 
years  of  age  were  received ;  but  to  such  extremes  had  the  new 
idea  been  carried  in  other  cities  that  to  some  schools  of  this 
character  infants  of  eighteen  months  were  admitted!1 

In  February,  1828,  a  committee  of  the  Public  School  Society, 
after  visiting  this  infant  school  and  the  junior  department  above 
mentioned,  presented  a  comprehensive  report  on  the  subject, 
which  pointed  out  that  the  system  of  the  junior  department  was 
"the  same  as  that  of  the  public  schools  generally,"  i.e.,  the 
Lancasterian  system,  while  in  the  infant  school  the  system  was 
"  a  judicious  combination  of  instruction  and  amusement,"  "  calcu- 
lated to  form  and  elicit  ideas,  rather  than  mere  literal  knowledge, 
though  this  is  by  no  means  neglected."  The  committee  recom- 
mended that  the  junior  department  be  continued  without  change, 
and  that  an  infant  school  be  opened  in  the  basement  of  No.  10 
(in  Duane  street).  This  was  done  in  the  following  May,  the 

1  See  Bourne,  p.  658 ;  Boese,  p.  50. 


The  Society's  Resources  Increased  77 

school  being  under  the  management  of  the  Infant  School  Soci- 
ety, but  under  the  direct  control  of  the  Public  School  Society. 

The  matter  was  further  canvassed  in  the  following  year 
(1829),  when  a  report  was  made  in  favor  of  the  infant  school 
system,  in  preference  to  the  monitorial  (Lancasterian)  system 
employed  in  the  junior  department  in  No.  8  ;  but,  although  the 
Trustees  were  desirous  of  establishing  other  infant  schools,  so 
called,  they  were  deterred  by  questions  of  a  financial  and  legal 
character.  About  the  middle  of  the  year  1830  it  was  decided  to 
convert  the  junior  department  of  No.  8  into  an  infant  school, 
and  in  November  of  that  year  a  resolution  was  adopted  designat- 
ing the  schools  for  the  youngest  children  as  "  Primary  Depart- 
ments." It  was  also  decided  to  employ  women  teachers  for  the 
beginners.  As  the  pay  system  was  still  in  force,  a  tuition  fee 
of  two  cents  per  week  was  prescribed.  Thus  was  instituted 
the  system  of  primary  schools,  and  primary  departments  in 
the  public  schools,  which  from  this  time  became  an  important 
feature  of  the  Society's  work. 

For  several  years  the  funds  of  the  Society  had  been  con- 
siderably augmented  by  money  received  for  licenses  granted  to 
dealers  in  lottery  tickets,  in  accordance  with  a  law  passed  on 
April  19,  1819.  The  license  tax  was  divided  between  the  Free 
School  Society  and  the  Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb.  In  August,  1819,  $1000  was  received  by  the 
Society  from  this  source.  In  1821,  $1875  was  reported  in 
the  minutes ;  in  1822,  $825  ;  in  1824,  $2625  ;  in  1825,  $3625 ;  in 
1826,  $3875. l  These  moneys  the  Trustees  received  with  reluc- 
tance, as  they  keenly  appreciated  the  evils  of  the  lottery  system. 
The  Annual  Report  for  1826  says : 

"  The  principal  sources  of  the  annual  revenue  of  the  Society  are,  the  Com- 
mon School  Fund,  the  State  Annuity,  which  is  paid  from  the  City  Excise  Fund, 

1  A  curious  entry  is  to  be  found  in  the  minutes  of  May,  1822,  when  an  applica- 
tion was  received  from  a  man  who  had  retired  from  the  lottery  buisness,  after  suffering 
great  losses  therein,  who  requested  a  return  of  his  license  money  for  the  unexpired 
part  of  the  year !  The  request  was  denied. 


78  The  New  York  Public  School 

and  the  half  cost  of  Lottery  Licences  (sic).  The  latter  has  increased  consider- 
ably in  amount,  and  the  Trustees  would  remark  in  relation  to  it,  that  they  would 
gladly  relinquish  this  portion  of  their  funds,  if  their  so  doing  would  put  an  end  to 
the  evils  of  the  Lottery  System.  The  Legislature,  however,  having  deemed  it 
expedient  to  provide  by  law,  that  the  venders  of  tickets  in  this  city  shall  be 
licensed,  and  that  the  one  half  cost  of  each  license  shall  be  paid  to  this  Society, 
and  the  other  half  to  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Institution,  the  Trustees  feel  it  their 
duty  to  receive  the  same,  and  appropriate  it  to  the  furtherance  of  the  benevo- 
lent designs  of  the  Society." 

The  matter  was  again  referred  to  in  the  Annual  Report  for 
1827,  which  stated  the  amount  received  from  this  source  as 
$4822.75.  In  1830  the  amount  reported  was  $4000;  in  1831, 
$7875;  in  1832,  $5125;  in  1833  (year  ending  May  3d),  $5125. 
In  1832  the  Institution  for  the  Deaf 'and  Dumb  applied  to  the 
Legislature  for  the  appropriation  to  it  of  all  the  moneys  received 
for  lottery  licenses,  and  secured  the  passage  of  a  law  to  that 
effect,  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society  making  no 
opposition. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  fact  that  the  large 
number  of  children  in  the  city  who  did  not  attend  school  had 
attracted  most  serious  attention  from  the  Trustees  of  the  Soci- 
ety. In  pursuance  of  their  plans  to  reach  the  idle  and  vicious, 
as  far  as  possible,  they  took  an  important  step  in  1828,  when 
Samuel  W.  Seton  was  employed  as  "  visitor."  1  Mr.  Seton  had 
been  elected  a  Trustee  of  the  Society  in  1823,  and  remained  a 
Trustee  until  the  Society  was  dissolved.  In  a  spirit  of  genuine 
philanthropy  he  entered  upon  his  duties  as  "visitor,"  devoting 
his  time  to  visiting  vagrant  children  and  their  parents  and  can- 
vassing among  those  who  did  not  go  to  school. 

"  At  this  period,  with  the  design  of  extending  more  widely 

1  Mr.  Bourne  says  that  Mr.  Seton  "  entered  upon  his  duties  "  on  the  first  of 
February,  1827  (p.  119)  ;  and  that  he  was  appointed  "in  the  month  of  May,  1827'' 
(p.  615).  The  minutes  of  the  Trustees  show  that  on  May  4,  1827,  the  Executive 
Committee  was  authorized  "  to  employ  a  person  to  act  as  a  General  Inspector  of  the 
Schools  and  Visitor  of  the  parents  of  the  children,  at  a  salary  not  exceeding  $800  per 
annum."  Mr.  Seton's  first  report,  presented  to  the  Board  May  16,  1828,  stated  that 
he  entered  on  his  duties  "  on  the  first  of  February." 


The  Society's  Resources  Increased  79 

the  benefits  of  instruction  among  the  indigent,  the  trustees  took 
into  their  employ  an  individual,  (who,  from  a  long  course  of  vol- 
untary labors,  in  endeavoring  to  promote  the  improvement  of 
this  class  of  our  population,  was  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  office,) 
to  visit  families,  and  by  conversing  with  the  parents,  to  persuade 
the  indifferent  and  careless  to  send  their  children  to  school,  and 
partake  of  the  benefits  offered  by  them ;  and  also  to  secure  the 
more  regular  attendance  of  delinquent  scholars.  His  labor, 
though  not  so  successful  as  might  have  been  hoped  for,  was 
nevertheless  abundantly  useful." l 

Mr.  Seton's  title  was  changed  to  that  of  "agent"  in  1833, 
and  in  this  capacity  he  served  the  Society  throughout  its  exist- 
ence, acting  as  general  business  supervisor  and  having  in  charge 
the  receipt  and  distribution  of  supplies.2 

According  to  the  Annual  Report  for  1830,  there  were  in 
the  eleven  buildings  of  the  Society  twenty-one  schools  (includ- 
ing the  junior  department  in  No.  8  and  the  infant  school  in  No. 
10).  In  all  the  schoolhouses,  except  Nos.  i,  6,  and  9,  there  were 
separate  departments  for  boys  and  girls.  The  attendance  was 
6178. 

1  Sketch,  1842,  pp.  26,  27.      The  Society  never  had  a  Superintendent  for  its 
schools. 

2  After  the  Public  School  Society  was  united  with  the  Board  of  Education,  in 
1853,  Mr.  Seton  was   elected  an  Assistant  Superintendent  of  Schools  (in   1854), 
and  assigned  to  the  care  of  the  primary  schools.     He  remained  in  the  employ  of  the 
Board  in  this  capacity  until  his  death,  in  1869,  at  the  age  of  eighty-two. 


CHAPTER  X 
ANOTHER  RELIGIOUS   CONTROVERSY 

EARLY  in  1831  the  Public  School  Society  was  once  more 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  question  of  the  participation  in  the 
Common  School  Fund  of  schools  maintained  by  religious  soci- 
eties, which  had  been  settled  in  its  favor  after  the  memorable  con- 
troversy with  the  Bethel  Baptist  Church,  beginning  in  1822  and 
ending  in  1825,  as  narrated  in  Chapter  VI.  By  the  ordinance 
adopted  by  the  Common  Council  in  1825,  the  Orphan  Asylum 
Society,  which  maintained  an  institution  in  the  neighborhood 
known  as  Greenwich,  was  permitted  to  receive  a  share  of  the 
school  moneys.  This  institution  was  frequently  termed  the 
Protestant  Orphan  Asylum,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Orphan 
Asylum  in  Prince  street,  conducted  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
Benevolent  Society.  The  friends  of  the  latter,  believing  that 
it  was  unjustly  discriminated  against,  submitted  an  application 
to  the  Common  Council  on  March  7,  1831,  for  a  pro  rata  share 
in  the  fund  mentioned ;  and  very  shortly  afterward  a  like 
application  was  filed  by  the  trustees  of  the  Methodist  Charity 
School. 

The  Trustees  and  Executive  Committee  of  the  Public  School 
Society  were  thoroughly  alarmed  by  this  new  movement  in  op- 
position to  what  they  deemed  the  best  interests  of  the  Society 
and  of  the  community,  and  vigorously  remonstrated  against  the 
granting  of  the  privileges  sought.  On  the  2d  of  May  they 
submitted  a  written  remonstrance  to  the  Common  Council,  and 
this  was  followed  on  the  6th  of  that  month  by  the  adoption  of 
an  address  to  the  public,  stating  in  detail  their  reasons  for  op- 
posing the  applications.  The  committee  of  the  Council  having 

So 


Another  Religious  Controversy  81 

the  matter  in  charge  had  already  decided  to  report  favorably  on 
the  request  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society.  The 
Trustees  in  their  statement  claimed  that  the  decision  of  the 
committee  was  a  virtual  abandonment  of  the  "  cardinal  princi- 
ples" established  in  1825;  that  the  petition  should  be  rejected 
because  "  contrary  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  liberty  and 
equal  rights,  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and  to  a  recent  act 
of  the  Legislature";  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society 
was  to  all  intents  a  close  corporation ;  that  "  the  school  fund 
ought  not  to  be  diverted,  in  whole  or  part,  to  the  purposes  of 
sectarian  instruction,  but  should  be  kept  sacred  to  the  great 
object,  emphatically  called  COMMON  EDUCATION  "  ;  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  Benevolent  Society  had  been  excluded  in  1825,  along 
with  other  worthy  societies,  including  the  Female  Association, 
which  received  children  of  every  persuasion  and  inculcated  no 
particular  tenets,  although  chiefly  under  the  patronage  of  individ- 
uals connected  with  the  Society  of  Friends ;  that  the  Greenwich 
Asylum  was  non-sectarian  and  was  not  a  close  corporation ;  and 
that  schools  which  were  the  property  of  a  particular  corporation, 
and  from  which  all  persons  who  did  not  belong  to  a  particular 
sect  might  be  excluded,  were  not  common  schools  within  the 
meaning  of  the  State  Constitution  or  of  the  recent  statute 
authorizing  the  raising  of  money  by  taxation  "to  be  applied 
exclusively  to  the  purposes  of  the  common  schools  "  of  the  city. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  contended  by  the  friends  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Asylum,  to  use  the  language  of  Mr.  Boese, 
that  "  the  right  of  their  orphans  to  the  advantages  of  the  school 
moneys  was  in  every  way  equal  to  that  of  the  inmates  of  the 
New  York  Orphan  Asylum,  who  had  for  years  enjoyed  the  bene- 
fits which  the  state  thus  provided  for  her  needy  and  helpless 
little  ones,  and  whose  claim  no  one  had  thought  of  disputing ; 
that  if  it  were  true  that  the  institution  whose  rights  they  sought 
was  in  any  sense  a  sectarian  school,  the  same  was  practically 
and  really  true  of  the  other  asylum  which  was  indeed  popularly 
known  and  designated  as  the  Protestant  Orphan  Asylum.  Its 


82  The  New  York  Public  School 

school-books  and  its  religious  exercises  were,  in  several  impor- 
tant particulars,  distinctively  Protestant,  as  was  also  its  manage- 
ment, although  the  membership  of  the  Society  was  ostensibly 
open  to  all ;  that  the  petitioners  did  not  seek  to  take  from  these 
friendless  ones  the  bounty  which  the  state  had  so  wisely  and  in 
such  Christian  spirit  provided,  but  only  to  have  another  and 
equally  necessitous  gathering  of  homeless  children  admitted  to 
the  same  privileges  "  (pp.  108,  109). 

"It  was  also  contended  that  the  children  in  an  Orphan 
Asylum,  if  not  provided  for  in  that  way,  would  become  a  public 
burthen,  not  only  as  regards  their  schooling,  but  for  their  entire 
support." * 

In  spite  of  opposition,  the  petition  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Benevolent  Society  was  granted,  whereupon  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  renewed  its  application,  on  the  ground  that  for 
nearly  forty  years  it  had  supported  a  school  for  male  and  female 
orphans  and  children  of  the  poor  and  destitute.  The  matter 
was  carried  over  into  the  following  year.  In  March,  1832,  a 
strong  protest  was  made  to  the  city  Corporation  by  the  Public 
School  Society  against  the  application  made  on  behalf  of  the 
Methodist  school,  on  the  ground  that  its  admission  to  a  share  in 
the  school  fund  would  be  a  violation  of  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws  and  of  good  faith  toward  the  public,  and  that  a  return  to  the 
"  sectarian  system  "  would  not  be  tolerated.  So  important  was 
the  matter  deemed  that  special  committees  were  designated  by 
the  Society  to  interview  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
individually.  Although  a  report  in  favor  of  granting  the  appli- 
cation was  made  by  the  committee  to  which  the  matter  was 
referred,  the  report  was  finally  overruled  and  the  application 
rejected  by  a  vote  of  8  to  3. 

The  Annual  Report  for  1832  touches  on  this  matter  at  some 
length,  and  states  that  "  the  application  is  still  before  the  Board 
of  Assistants,  and  it  may  therefore  become  necessary  to  oppose 
the  measure  before  the  new  Common  Council."  It  does  not 

1  Annual  Report,  Public  School  Society,  1832. 


Another  Religious  Controversy  83 

appear,  however,  that  the  application  was  renewed.  In  the 
Annual  Report  just  mentioned  the  Trustees  state  that  "they 
freely  admit  that  there  is  a  difference  between  orphan  children, 
mostly  very  young,  forming  one  family,  fed  and  lodged  under 
the  same  roof,  and  the  children  of  private  families  scattered  over 
the  city,  and  who  must  of  necessity  leave  home  for  the  purpose 
of  education,  if  educated  at  all,"  and  add  :  "The  claims  of  an 
Institution  so  meritorious  as  the  one  in  question  [the  Roman 
Catholic  Orphan  Asylum],  might  have  prevented  opposition, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  pressing  conviction,  that  the  admission 
of  the  Asylum  would  induce  others,  under  circumstances  entirely 
dissimilar,  to  renew  their  applications  for  a  portion  of  School 
Money."  That  these  fears  were  not  without  reason  has  already 
been  shown. 

Ample  funds  being  assured  for  carrying  on  and  enlarg- 
ing the  work  of  the  Society,  and  the  pay  system  having  been 
abolished  (on  February  3,  1832),  as  already  told,  the  Board  of 
Trustees  took  active  steps  in  the  direction  of  improving  and 
multiplying  the  schools  under  its  care.  ^ 

In  February,  1832,  the  question  of  conveying  the  Society's 
real  estate  to  the  city  Corporation,  and  taking  back  a  perpetual 
lease  of  the  same,  as  authorized  by  the  act  of  January  28,  1826 
(see  Chapter  VIII),  was  again  taken  up,  and  a  resolution  adopted 
expressing  the  readiness  of  the  Board  to  enter  into  such  an 
arrangement.  This  was  deemed  advisable  as  making  the  public 
schools  more  truly  what  their  name  implied,  and  as  tending  to 
relieve  the  Society  from  the  imputation  that  it  was  a  close  cor- 
poration. The  proposed  transfer  was  not  effected,  however, 
at  that  time,  or  later,  the  school  buildings  and  other  property 
remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  Society  throughout  its  existence. 

In  the  same  month  a  committee  was  appointed  to  consider 
"  the  general  state  of  Public  Education  in  this  city,  and  to  pre- 
pare and  report  an  extended  plan  of  instruction,  commensurate 
with  the  acknowledged  wants  of  the  city,  and  the  greatly 
enhanced  means  placed  by  existing  laws  at  the  disposal  of  the 


84  The  New  York  Public  School 

Society." a  Two  members  of  the  committee  visited  Boston  to 
examine  the  public  schools  in  that  city.  They  were  favorably 
impressed  with  what  they  saw,  and  made  numerous  important 
recommendations  as  to  improving  the  system  here.  The  first 
of  these  was  in  favor  of  establishing  primary  schools  for  young 
children,  on  the  plan  of  having  numerous  small  schools  in  rented 
rooms,  within  easy  reach  of  little  children  who,  in  many  cases, 
were  unable  to  attend  the  public  schools  on  account  of  the  dis- 
tance of  the  latter  from  their  homes.  A  Committee  on  Primary 
Schools  was  appointed  by  the  Board,  and  it  was  decided  to 
organize  ten  such  schools,  for  children  from  four  to  ten  years  of 
age,  as  speedily  as  possible ;  each  school  to  be  under  the  charge 
of  a  female  teacher,  and  to  have  accommodations  for  about  sixty 
children  of  both  sexes.  The  first  was  opened  in  Orchard  street 
in  September,  1832,  and  in  November  the  Committee  reported 
that  locations  for  five  schools  had  been  selected.  In  1833  seven 
primary  schools  were  in  operation,  and  according  to  the  Annual 
Report  for  1834  there  were  seventeen  primary  schools,  in  addi- 
tion to  seven  primary  departments  in  public  school  buildings. 
This  branch  of  work  continued  to  expand,  and  when  the  Public 
School  Society  ceased  to  exist,  in  1853,  the  number  of  primary 
schools  had  risen  to  fifty-four  and  there  were  fifteen  primary 
departments  in  the  public  schools,  besides  three  primary  schools 
for  colored  children. 

The  visit  of  the  above-mentioned  sub-committee  to  Boston 
had  another  effect  in  drawing  attention  to  the  question  of 
vagrancy.  On  this  point  the  Annual  Report  for  1832  contains 
the  following : 

"The  city  of  Boston,  with  a  population  more  than  two  thirds  less, 
expends  annually  nearly  double  the  largest  sum  heretofore  appropriated  in  a 
year  to  the  purposes  of  public  education  in  New  York.  Their  system  should 
of  course  be  much  more  complete  and  effectual  than  ours  ;  and  although  in 
some  respects  it  is  so  —  yet  it  may  be  stated  with  confidence,  that  the  Schools 
of  New  York  compare  favorably  with  those  of  the  same  grade  in  Boston. 

1  Annual  Report,  1832.  The  report  stated  that  the  permanent  debt  of  the 
Society  amounted  to  $60,000. 


Another  Religious  Controversy  85 

"  Truantship  in  that  city  is  deemed  a  criminal  offence  in  children,  and 
those  who  cannot  be  reclaimed,  are  taken  from  their  parents  by  the  Police, 
and  placed  in  an  Institution  called  the  '  School  of  Reformation,'  corresponding 
in  many  respects  with  our  House  of  Refuge  —  from  which  they  are  bound  out 
by  the  competent  authority,  without  again  returning  to  their  parents.  As  a 
necessary  consequence,  the  per  centage  of  absentees,  or  the  difference  between 
the  number  of  children  on  register  and  the  actual  attendance,  is  less  in  the 
Boston  Public  Schools  than  those  of  New  York.  This  subject  has  during  the 
past,  as  in  former  years,  received  the  attention  of  the  Trustees,  and  will  prob- 
ably be  brought  before  the  next  Board,  in  connection  with  the  general  subject 
of  non-attendance  at  any  school,  which  exists  to  such  an  alarming  extent  in 
this  city." 

The  subject  was  immediately  brought  to  the  attention  of  the 
Common  Council  in  a  memorial  representing  the  great  apathy 
and  negligence  of  the  poor  in  sending  their  children  to  school, 
and  resolutions  were  adopted  by  that  body  (approved  by  the 
Mayor  May  10,  1832),  as  follows: 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society,  and  the  Com- 
missioners of  the  Alms  House,  be  requested  to  make  it  known  to  parents, 
and  all  persons,  whether  emigrants  or  otherwise,  having  children  in  charge, 
capable  of  receiving  instruction,  and  being  between  the  ages  of  five  and 
twelve  years,  that  unless  said  parents  and  persons,  do  or  shall  send  such 
children  to  some  Public  or  other  daily  School,  for  such  time  in  each  year  as 
the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society  may  from  time  to  time  designate, 
that  all  such  persons  must  consider  themselves  without  the  pale  of  public 
charities,  and  not  entitled,  in  case  of  misfortune,  to  receive  public  favor. 

"  Resolved,  that  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society,  and  the 
Commissioners  of  the  Alms  House,  are  hereby  authorized  to  take  such  steps 
as  they  may  deem  expedient,  from  time  to  time,  to  give  the  necessary  publicity 
to  the  preceding  Resolution,  and  the  Commissioners  of  the  Alms  House  are 
hereby  requested  to  use  such  means  as  may  be  in  their  power  and  discretion, 
to  carry  the  same  into  effect." 

These  resolutions  were  extensively  circulated  by  the  Society 
in  the  form  of  handbills,  and  were  posted  throughout  the  city, 
with  information  as  to  the  location  of  the  several  public  schools, 
and  the  statement  that  they  were  at  all  times  open  for  the 
reception  of  children  of  all  classes. 


86  The  New  York  Public  School 

In  December,  1832,  the  committee  on  the  reorganization  of 
the  system  presented  a  carefully  elaborated  report,  and  its 
recommendations,  after  full  consideration  and  discussion,  were 
adopted,  providing  for  a  variety  of  changes  and  improvements, 
which  are  thus  summarized  in  the  Sketch  of  1842  : 

"The  committee,  on  a  revision  of  the  system,  having 
matured  their  views,  reported,  and  the  Board  fully  concurred 
in  the  proposed  alterations,  which  embraced  the  following 
particulars,  viz :  a  system  of  Primary  schools  under  female 
teachers,  for  elementary  classes  in  reading,  spelling  and  writ- 
ing, with  elements  of  arithmetic,  and  geography,  to  be  taught 
orally,  and  as  far  as  possible  with  visible  illustrations ;  the 
schools  for  this  end  to  be  supplied  with  a  hemispherical  map, 
a  small  globe,  numerical  frame,  and  black  board.  The  course 
of  studies  in  the  upper  public  schools  to  be  extended  so  as  to 
embrace  astronomy,  algebra,  geometry,  trigonometry,  and  book- 
keeping :  salaries  to  be  raised,  assistant  teachers  appointed, 
and  recitation  rooms  provided  to  suit  these  arrangements  ;  and 
a  more  extended  use  of  maps,  globes,  and  school  apparatus  ; 
the  system  of  mutual  instruction  to  be  retained,  and  the  school 
taught  in  drafts  by  monitors,  with  the  modification  of  being 
examined  and  instructed  by  the  principal  and  the  assistants  in 
large  divisions  alternately  in  the  class  rooms.  The  system  of 
writing  from  dictation  and  on  slates,  and  the  general  gymnastic 
exercises  of  Lancaster  to  be  retained,  it  being  thought  to  confer 
greater  energy  and  efficiency  on  the  system,  and  to  be  pro- 
motive  of  method  and  order.  Evening  schools  to  be  established 
for  apprentices,  and  others  who  had  left  school  without  the 
advantages  now  to  be  offered.  The  primary  schools  were  to  be 
located  generally  through  the  wards,  providing  for  the  younger 
children  of  the  population  lying  between  the  more  distant  upper 
schools  "  (p.  32). 

The  proposed  elaboration  of  the  system  led  the  Trustees  to 
agree  upon  certain  changes  in  the  monitorial  system,  which  had 
long  been  their  pride.  In  the  Annual  Report  for  1833  they  say  : 


Another  Religious  Controversy  87 

"  The  Monitorial  System  will  be  continued  with  such  modi- 
fications as  may  be  found  expedient ;  and  it  must  be  evident 
that  the  employment  of  an  additional  Instructor,  with  one  or 
two  well  qualified  salaried  Monitors  General,  will  enable  the 
Trustees  so  to  arrange  the  duties  of  the  Teachers,  that  every 
child  in  the  school  shall  receive  the  direct  instruction  of  the 
principals  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  heretofore ;  and  so  far 
as  respects  the  higher  branches,  this  will  be  almost  exclusively 
the  case,  as  the  time  of  one  of  the  teachers  will  be  devoted  to 
separate  classes  in  the  recitation  rooms. 

"  The  Trustees  intend  to  introduce  this  system  in  full,  as 
soon  as  circumstances  will  warrant.  Assistant  Teachers  will  be 
forthwith  appointed,  and  the  means  afforded  for  instruction  in 
all  the  branches  of  the  proposed  course :  but  the  exclusion  of 
the  younger  children  from  the  Public  Schools  will  be  gradually 
carried  into  effect,  as  the  number  of  Primary  Schools  shall  be 
increased ;  and  until  this  be  done  to  an  extent  amply  sufficient 
to  accommodate  all  the  junior  classes,  they  will  be  received  as 
heretofore  into  the  Public  Schools." 

The  twelfth  school  of  the  Society  was  established  in  Seven- 
teenth street,  near  Eighth  avenue,  and  the  building  erected 
there  was  opened  on  January  17,  1831,  the  total  cost  being 
$10,878.86.  The  building  was  destroyed  by  fire  a  few  days 
afterward,  but  immediate  steps  were  taken  to  rebuild  it.  The 
new  building,  pronounced  "  one  of  the  finest  school  houses  in 
the  city,"  was  ready  for  use  on  the  2Qth  of  August  following. 


CHAPTER  XI 
EVENING  SCHOOLS   ORGANIZED 

THE  Annual  Report  of  the  Society  for  1833  speaks  of  the 
intention  of  the  Trustees  to  open  several  evening  schools,  for  the 
benefit  of  apprentices  in  particular.  It  will  be  recalled  that  ten 
years  previously,  in  1823,  the  teachers  employed  by  the  Society 
were  allowed  to  hold  evening  schools,  "  provided  they  furnish 
their  own  fuel  and  oil  "  and  make  good  all  damage  to  furniture, 
etc.  (see  Chapter  VII) ;  but  there  is  no  record  of  the  success 
or  failure  of  that  arrangement.  The  first  free  evening  schools 
were  established  in  1833,  four  being  in  operation  from  October 
of  that  year  until  March,  1834;  they  were  attended  by  1245 
scholars.  The  plan  adopted  was  to  employ  the  regular  teachers 
and  monitors  of  the  public  schools,  without  extra  compensation ; 
and  it  was  resolved  that,  in  future  engagements  with  male 
teachers,  assistants,  and  monitors,  it  should  be  stipulated  that 
they  should  give  their  services  in  the  evening  schools,  if  required 
by  the  Executive  Committee,  without  additional  pay.  The 
experiment  was  not  altogether  successful.  In  1835  tne  Annual 
Report  stated  that  the  success  of  the  evening  schools  "  has  not 
fully  corresponded  with  the  wishes  of  the  Trustees."  The 
teachers,  having  an  extra  burden  laid  on  them,  took  little  interest 
in  their  work;  there  were  troublesome  questions  in  regard  to 
discipline,  etc. ;  and  although  the  schools  were  continued  for 
some  time,  they  were  quietly  abandoned  after  three  or  four  years, 
without  formal  action  being  taken. 

In  November,  1832,  a  proposition  was  received  from  the 
Manumission  Society  (see  Chapter  I)  for  the  transfer  of  its 
schools  for  colored  children  to  the  Public  School  Society.  The 

88 


Evening  Schools  Organized  89 

proposition  was  regarded  with  favor,  but,  owing  to  legal 
obstacles  and  the  necessity  for  legislative  action,  the  transfer 
was  not  effected  until  1834.  The  property  transferred  con- 
sisted of  two  lots  and  a  building  in  Mulberry  street,  and  a  build- 
ing in  William  street  on  land  leased  by  the  city  in  perpetuity, 
together  with  furniture,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  equipment  in  seven 
hired  rooms;  the  total  appraised  value  being  $12,130.22.  The 
Manumission  Society  enjoyed  the  right  of  participation  in  the 
Common  School  Fund,  and  its  share  was  henceforth  paid  over 
to  the  Public  School  Society.  The  schools  thus  acquired  were 
known  as  "African  Schools,"  but  in  1838  the  name  "  African  " 
was  changed  to  "  Colored."  About  1400  pupils  were  registered 
in  these  schools  at  the  time  of  the  transfer,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  one-half  that  number. 

/  Another  interesting  event  of  the  year  1834  was  the  establish- 
ment of  a  special  school  for  the  instruction  of  the  female 
monitors  employed  in  the  primary  schools  and  departments, 
which  was  held  on  Saturdays  when  the  other  schools  were 
closed.  Such  instruction  was  made  necessary  by  the  change 
in  the  system  whereby  the  monitors  in  the  lower  schools 
were  deprived  of  the  opportunities  of  pursuing  their  studies 
which  they  had  enjoyed  as  long  as  the  purely  Lancasterian 
system  was  in  operation.  The  school  was  so  successful 
that  in  the  following  year  a  similar  school  for  the  monitors 
in  the  boys'  schools  (or  departments)  was  established,  to  be  held 
during  the  winter  on  five  evenings  of  each  week,  and  for  the 
remainder  of  the  year  on  Saturday  mornings.  A  school  was 
also  provided  for  monitors  in  the  colored  schools.  These  schools 
in  a  short  time  came  to  be  known  as  "  normal  schools,"  although 
normal  instruction  as  now  understood  was  not  given  in  them, 
and  under  that  name  they  passed  over  to  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion and  were  continued  for  many  years. 
To  quote  from  the  Sketch  of  1842  : 

"In  1834,  the  number  of  Primaries  having  greatly  increased,  and  occa- 
sioning the  employment  of  very  many  monitors,  who,  from  the  elementary 


90  The  New  York  Public  School 

character  of  those  schools,  were  cut  off  from  the  opportunity  of  further  improve- 
ment, it  was  suggested  by  the  Committee  on  Teachers,  that  this  deficiency  might 
be  supplied  by  establishing  a  school  for  their  especial  benefit,  to  be  held  on  the 
last  day  of  the  week.  Such  a  school  was  then  organized,  when  it  was  soon 
perceived,  that  in  its  successful  operations,  it  might  prove  the  foundation  of  a 
normal  school  of  peculiar  excellence  for  training  and  supplying  teachers  for 
the  Institution,  better  fitted  than  any  others  for  its  purposes.  This  plan  was 
accordingly  extended,  and  another  opened  for  the  monitors  of  the  male  school, 
which  from  November  to  March  should  be  held  five  evening  sessions  per  week  ; 
and  another  for  the  improvement  of  the  monitors  of  the  Female  Colored 
Schools,  embracing  several  Primaries,  in  which  were  girls  employed  under  the 
like  disadvantages.  A  proposition  was  soon  after  carried  into  effect  to  receive 
and  admit  to  the  privileges  of  these  schools  such  of  the  pupils  of  the  9th  class  of 
the  upper  schools  as  from  peculiar  intelligence,  industry,  and  decided  taste  for 
the  pursuits  of  learning,  might  be  recommended  by  the  teacher  as  solicitous  of 
such  advantages.  These  in  the  normal  schools  are  denominated  *  cadets '  ; 
and  those  qualified  by  advancement,  and  desirous  of  such  a  station,  are 
appointed  as  monitors,  under  pay"  (p.  33). 

To  furnish  a  standard  of  comparison  with  the  salaries  paid 
to  teachers  at  the  present  time,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  intro- 
duce at  this  point  the  "  Tariff  of  Salaries  "  adopted  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees  in  November,  1836: 

PER  ANNUM 

Principal  Teachers  of  the  Male  Department  not  to  exceed  .        .  $1000 

Assistant  Teachers  of  the  Male  Department  not  to  exceed    .         .  700 

Passed  Monitors  of  the  Male  Department  not  to  exceed        .         .  400 

First  Monitors  of  the  Male  Department  not  to  exceed  .        .         .  200 

Second  Monitors  of  the  Male  Department  not  to  exceed       .        .  100 

Teachers  in  the  Female  Department  not  to  exceed       .        .        .  450 

Assistant  Teachers  in  the  Female  Department  not  to  exceed        .  300 

First  Monitors  in  the  Female  Department  not  to  exceed       .         .  125 

Second  Monitors  in  the  Female  Department  not  to  exceed   .         .  100 

Teachers  in  the  Primary  Department  not  to  exceed      .         .        .  275 

Assistant  Teachers  in  the  Primary  Department  not  to  exceed       .  160 

First  Monitors  in  the  Primary  Department  not  to  exceed      .         .  100 

Second  Monitors  in  the  Primary  Department  not  to  exceed  .         .  75 

Teachers  of  the  Primary  Schools  not  to  exceed     ....  200 
and  $2.50  per  annum  for  each  child  in  daily  attendance  over 
sixty,  the  additional  number  so  allowed  for  not  to  exceed 
thirty. 

First  Monitors  of  Primary  Schools  not  over.        ....  100 


Evening  Schools  Organized  91 

The  number  of  schools  had  now  increased  to  fifteen,  not 
including  the  two  schools  for  colored  children.  No.  13,  in 
Madison  street,  was  opened  in  May,  1833,  and  No.  14,  in  Hous- 
ton street,  in  November,  1833.  The  next  school  established 
was  No.  15,  in  East  Twenty-seventh  street,  in  May,  1835.  No. 
1 6,  in  Fifth  street,  near  Avenue  D,  was  opened  in  April,  I838.1 

In  1837  the  Board  of  Trustees  decided  to  employ  a  superin- 
tendent of  repairs  to  look  after  all  minor  work  necessary  to  be 
done  in  school  buildings,  such  as  repairs,  painting,  etc.  A  work- 
shop was  established  in  Thompson  street,  and  Amnon  Macvey 
was  appointed  foreman,  at  a  salary  of  $750  per  annum,  which 
was  increased  to  $900  in  1845.  Mr.  Macvey  was  in  the  employ 
of  the  Public  School  Society  and  of  the  Board  of  Education  for 
about  thirty-five  years,  and  was  the  architect  of  a  large  number 
of  school  buildings.  From  the  small  beginning  in  1837  tne 
present  Bureau  of  Buildings  in  the  Board  of  Education  has 
grown. 

In  the  year  just  mentioned  an  important  change  in  Public 
School  No.  i  was  made,  as  the  decision  of  the  city  authorities  to 
extend  Centre  street  required  the  demolition  of  the  building 
dedicated  by  De  Witt  Clinton  in  1809.  The  colored  school  in 
William  street  had  been  removed  to  a  new  building  erected  in 
1836  in  Laurens  street  (now  West  Broadway),  and  on  the  lots 
in  William  street,  near  Duane,  which  were  leased  from  the 
city,  a  new  and  substantial  building  for  No.  i  was  erected; 
it  was  opened  on  October  16,  1 838.2  Pending  the  completion 

1  The  original  numbers  attached  to  the  buildings  of  the  Public  School  Society 
were  retained  until  the  summer  of  1853,  when,  on  account  of  the  sale  of  No.  lo,  the 
higher  numbers  were  changed,  No.  n  becoming  No.  10,  etc.     The  schools  on  the 
sites  above  mentioned  are  now  Public  Schools  12,  13,  14,  and  15. 

2  The  building  of  School  No.  i,  in  William  street,  was  demolished  in  1860,  on 
account  of  the  opening  of  New  Chambers  street ;   for  a  short  time  the  school  was 
carried  on  in  rented  premises  at  No.  33  Rose  street;   but  in  1863  a  schoolhouse  was 
built  in  Vandewater  street,  near  Pearl,  which  was  known  as  No.  I  until  1897,  wnen 
present  Public  School  I,  at  Henry,  Catherine,  and  Oliver  streets,  was  erected.     The 
school  in  Vandewater  street  has  since  been  known  as  Public  School  180. 


92  The  New  York  Public  School 

of  the  new  schoolhouse,  the  two  departments  of  No.  I  were 
quartered  in  neighboring  churches. 

(  "  As  the  want  of  adequate  means  prevented  the  Trustees  from 
establishing,  as  a  part  of  the  system  contemplated  in  their  im- 
provements, a  High  school  for  the  further  instruction  of  those 
scholars,  who  had  advanced  to  the  limit  of  the  branches  taught 
in  the  public  schools,  the  Board  were  the  more  gratified  by  the 
advantages  held  out  by  Columbia  College,  and  the  University, 
with  their  preparatory  schools,  in  offering  for  their  use  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  scholarships  for  the  then  condition  of  the 
schools ;  for  it  was  found  that  the  committee  having  charge  of 
this  subject  have  few  applicants  for  the  privilege,  owing  to  the 
constant  desire  of  parents  to  remove  their  children  from  school 
even  before  they  have  received  all  the  benefits  offered  by  them. 
A  number,  however,  have  availed  themselves  of  these  benefices, 
and  with  great  credit"  (Sketch,  1842,  p.  34).1 

About  this  time  the  Trustees  took  up  the  question  of  erecting 
a  special  building  for  their  headquarters,  to  provide  a  place  for 
their  meetings,  a  depository  for  school  supplies,  etc.,  and  in 
1839  it  was  decided  to  purchase  property  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Grand  and  Elm  streets  for  $19,500.  There  the 
building  known  for  a  number  of  years  as  Trustees'  Hall  was 
built.  It  was  completed  in  1840.  It  was  used  not  only  for  the 
offices  and  depository  of  the  Society,  but  normal  and  primary 
schools  were  held  in  it,  and  for  a  number  of  years  two  stores  in 
the  building  were  rented.2  The  building  was  enlarged  by  the 
Board  of  Education  in  1854  by  the  addition  of  a  fourth  story. 
It  was  occupied  as  the  Hall  of  the  Board  of  Education  from 
1853  to  1900.  Since  1900  it  has  been  used  as  a  high  school  annex. 

1  In  this  connection  the  following  extract  from  a  report  of  the  Society's  Com- 
mittee on  Free  Scholarships  in  Columbia  College,  which  appears  in  the  minutes  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  under  date  of  February  5,  1836,  is  of  interest: 

"  In  No.  10  Abraham  S.  Hewitt.  He  is  described  as  one  of  the  best  scholars 
in  the  school  and  has  (sic)  having  some  knowledge  of  Latin.  He  is  in  his  I4th  year." 

2  In  the  Annual  Report  of  William  L.  Stone,  County  Superintendent  of  Schools, 
for  1843,  this  building  is  mentioned  as  a  "spacious  and  substantial  edifice." 


Evening  Schools  Organized  93 

In  October,  1838,  the  members  of  the  Public  School  Society 
and  the  friends  of  education  in  New  York  were  called  upon  to 
mourn  the  death  of  Joseph  Lancaster,  whose  system  of  instruc- 
tion was  so  vitally  identified  with  the  work  of  the  Society.  After 
visiting  School  No.  7,  in  Chrystie  street,  he  was  knocked  down 
by  a  horse  and  carriage  while  crossing  Grand  street,  and  so 
seriously  injured  that  he  died  two  days  later.  His  death 
occurred  in  Williamsburgh.  The  minute  adopted  by  the  Society 
in  reference  to  Mr.  Lancaster  stated  that  he  "  travelled  exten- 
sively in  both  hemispheres,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  and 
promoting  his  admirable  system  of  education :  a  system  which 
is  rapidly  ameliorating  the  condition  of  man,  and  extending  the 
blessings  of  education  to  millions  who  might  otherwise  have 
lived  and  died  in  the  darkness  of  ignorance." 

After  referring  to  Lancaster's  visit  to  New  York  in  1818, 
Mr.  Randall  says  : 

"  Twenty  years  afterward,  in  1838,  he  again  visited  the  city,  and  ineffect- 
ually endeavored  to  re-establish  his  system.  The  lapse  of  nearly  an  entire 
generation  had  thrown  it  into  the  shade  —  educational  science,  in  its  rapid 
progress,  had  superseded  it  by  new  methods  and  more  modern  ideas  —  his 
proposals  were  respectfully  declined  ;  and  a  few  days  subsequently  a  fatal 
street  accident  terminated  his  life.  All  honor  to  his  memory  !  As  the  pioneer 
of  elementary  public  instruction,  he  accomplished  a  vast  amount  of  good  in  both 
hemispheres ;  obtained  the  confidence  and  regard  of  many  of  the  greatest, 
wisest,  and  best  statesmen  and  philanthropists  of  the  age  ;  and  left  the 
impress  of  his  genius  strongly  marked  upon  the  earliest  developments  of  our 
great  system  of  public  instruction."  * 

1  History  of  the  Common  School  System  of  the  State  of  New  York,  p.  32. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  CONTROVERSY  OF  1840 

THE  year  1840  witnessed  the  beginning  of  another  contro- 
versy on  the  question  of  applying  public  school  moneys  to  the 
support  of  schools  under  the  control  of  religious  societies. 
This  controversy  was  destined  to  have  very  far-reaching  effects 
upon  the  system  of  public  education  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
leading  to  the  establishment  of  the  Board  of  Education  and,  a 
few  years  later,  to  the  dissolution  of  the  Public  School  Society. 
While  the  leading  spirits  of  the  Society  felt  that  nothing  in  their 
previous  history  had  affected  their  vital  interests  so  closely,  no 
one  was  far-sighted  enough  to  perceive  what  momentous  results 
were  to  follow. 

In  his  annual  message  for  the  year  mentioned,  Governor 
William  H.  Seward  made  the  following  statement,  which  was 
considered  by  many  to  have  a  bearing  upon  a  question  that  had 
not  been  settled  in  this  city  : 

"  The  children  of  foreigners,  found  in  great  numbers  in  our 
populous  cities  and  towns,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  our  public  works, 
are  too  often  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  our  system  of  public 
education,  in  consequence  of  prejudices  arising  from  difference 
of  language  or  religion.  It  ought  never  to  be  forgotten  that 
the  public  welfare  is  as  deeply  concerned  in  their  education  as 
in  that  of  our  own  children.  I  do  not  hesitate,  therefore,  to 
recommend  the  establishment  of  schools  in  which  they  may  be  in- 
structed by  teachers  speaking  the  same  language  with  themselves 
and  professing  the  same  faith.  There  would  be  no  inequality  in 
such  a  measure,  since  it  happens  from  the  force  of  circumstances, 
if  not  from  choice,  that  the  responsibilities  of  education  are  in 

94 


The  Controversy  of  1840  95 

most  instances  confided  by  us  to  native  citizens,  and  occasions 
seldom  offer  for  a  trial  of  our  magnanimity  by  committing 
that  trust  to  persons  differing  from  ourselves  in  language  or 
religion." 

In  February,  1840,  trustees  and  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  churches  in  the  city,  seven  or  eight  in  number,  which 
maintained  free  schools,  submitted  to  the  Common  Council  an 
application  for  a  share  of  the  school  moneys.  A  large  number 
of  influential  citizens  were  interested  in  this  movement,  who 
claimed  that  they  had  good  reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with  the 
management  of  the  Public  School  Society.  It  was  "  alleged 
that  although  the  society  belonged  to  no  particular  religious 
denomination,  and  although  it  did  not  teach  directly  the  creed 
of  any  particular  sect,  that  still  its  schools  were  practically 
sectarian,  and  that  its  books  and  instruction  had  so  strong  a  bias 
in  favor  of  Protestantism  that  Roman  Catholics,  who  were  a 
large  class  of  our  citizens,  and  by  universal  consent  entitled  to  a 
perfect  equality  of  rights,  could  not  conscientiously  send  their 
children  to  the  schools."  1 

The  Trustees  and  Executive  Committee  of  the  Society  took 
immediate  steps  actively  to  oppose  the  application  as  "  unconsti- 
tutional and  inexpedient."  Before  the  end  of  February  two 
remonstrances  were  submitted,  in  the  second  of  which  the 
history  of  the  distribution  of  the  Common  School  Fund  was 
reviewed.  Attention  was  called  to  the  fact  that  ninety-seven 
schools  of  various  grades 2  were  conducted  by  the  Society,  in 
which  upwards  of  twenty  thousand  children  received  instruction 
during  the  previous  year.  It  was  asserted  that  these  were  em- 
phatically common  schools  within  the  meaning  of  the  statute ; 
that  in  selecting  teachers  no  regard  was  paid  to  the  sectarian 
views  of  candidates  ;  and  it  had,  in  fact,  been  ascertained,  since 
the  application  above  mentioned  was  filed,  that  at  least  six  of  the 

1  Annual  Report,  Board  of  Education,  1853,  p.  38. 

2  There  were  now  forty-six  primary  schools  and  twelve  primary  departments,  be- 
sides one  primary  department  and  five  primary  schools  for  colored  children. 


96  The  New  Ycrk  Public  School 

teachers  in  the  public  schools  belonged  to  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church. 

This  remonstrance  was  printed  and  circulated  freely,  in  order 
to  arouse  and  concentrate  public  opinion  in  opposition  to  the 
pending  application.  It  was  accompanied  by  resolutions  adopted 
by  the  Commissioners  of  School  Money,1  to  the  effect  that 
"Schools  created  and  directed  by  any  particular  Religious 
Society,  should  derive  no  aid  from  a  fund  designed  for  the 
common  benefit  of  all  the  youth  of  this  city,  without  religious 
distinction  or  preference." 

Petitions  similar  to  that  received  from  the  trustees  of  the 
Catholic  schools  were  also  presented  by  the  Hebrew  Congrega- 
tion in  Crosby  street  and  by  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Church ; 
and  remonstrances  against  the  diversion  of  the  public  funds 
were  filed  by  a  number  of  individuals  and  churches,  in  addition 
to  those  of  the  Public  School  Society. 

All  these  papers  were  referred  by  the  Board  of  Assistant 
Aldermen  to  its  Committee  on  Arts,  Sciences,  and  Schools, 
which  gave  a  public  hearing  on  the  I2th  of  March,  1840.  The 
entire  question  was  reviewed  in  the  elaborate  report  of  the 
Committee,  the  conclusion  of  which  was  that  the  petitioners  had 
not  made  out  a  valid  claim  to  participate  in  the  school  fund. 
This  report  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Assistants,  on  April 
27th,  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

While  the  matter  was  pending  before  the  Board  of  Assistant 
Aldermen,  the  question  of  the  sectarian  character  of  sundry 
passages  in  certain  books  used  in  the  public  schools  was  raised. 
This  was  not  an  entirely  new  question.  In  1834  the  Roman 
Catholic  Bishop  of  New  York  had  submitted  to  the  Public 
School  Society  a  proposition  that  a  Roman  Catholic  teacher 

1  The  Commissioners  of  School  Money  were  a  board  of  seventeen  citizens  ap- 
pointed by  the  Common  Council;  it  was  their  duty  "to  visit  all  Schools  that  participate 
in  the  School  Fund,  and  report  their  condition  to  the  Corporation  of  this  City,  and 
to  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  at  Albany"  (see  Annual  Report,  1840, 
p.  27).  The  remonstrance  summarized  above  and  the  resolutions  of  the  Commis- 
sioners of  School  Money  were  printed  in  full  in  the  Annual  Report  for  1840. 


The  Controversy  of  1840  97 

should  be  appointed  in  one  of  its  schools,  and  that  the  books 
used  should  be  submitted  to  him  and  such  passages  expunged 
as  might  be  found  objectionable,  in  order  that  Catholic  children 
might  attend  the  school  without  restriction.  A  committee  was 
appointed  by  the  Society  to  confer  with  the  Bishop,  and  a  com- 
munication was  subsequently  sent  to  him,  expressing  the  strong 
desire  of  the  Trustees  that  the  children  of  Catholics  should 
attend  the  public  schools,  and  suggesting  that  Catholics  desiring 
to  take  an  active  part  in  the  management  of  the  same  should 
become  members  of  the  Society  or  of  its  Board  of  Trustees. 
The  communication  added :  "  The  board  have  always  desired, 
and  do  now  decidedly  wish,  so  to  conduct  the  schools  under 
their  charge,  as  that  all  Christian  sects  shall  feel  entire  freedom 
in  pending  their  children  to  them.  And  if  there  be  in  the  sys- 
tem of  the  schools,  or  in  the  books  used  in  them,  any  matter 
which  can  reasonably  be  objected  to  by  any  denomination,  they 
would  gladly  remove  the  same."  No  reply  was  received,  and 
nothing  was  done  at  that  time  towards  expunging  offensive 
passages  from  school  books. 

The  question  was  brought  forward  again  in  March,  1840,  in 
a  letter  addressed  to  the  Public  School  Society  by  a  Roman 
Catholic  clergyman,  the  Rev.  Felix  Varela,  who  asked  to  be 
furnished  with  a  set  of  the  reading  books  used  in  the  public 
schools.  The  request  was  complied  with,  and  a  resolution  was 
adopted  stating  the  desire  of  the  Trustees  to  "remove  every 
objection  which  the  members  of  the  Catholic  Church  may  have- 
to  the  books  used  or  the  studies  pursued  in  the  public  schools." 
A  committee  was  appointed  to  examine  the  books  used  in  the 
schools,  and  correspondence  was  carried  on  for  some  time  with 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Varela,  Vicar-General  Power,  and  Bishop  Hughes,- 
whose  co-operation  in  pointing  out  the  matters  objected  to  was 
sought,  in  order  to  divest  the  schools  of  any  sectarian  character 
or  bias.  This  co-operation  was  not  granted,  as  the  Catholics  felt 
that  the  mere  expurgation  of  school  books  would  not  remove 
what  they  regarded  as  objectionable  in  the  public  schools.  The 


98  The  New  York  Public  School 

Society,  however,  decided  to  erase  sundry  articles  and  para- 
graphs, to  paste  leaves  together  in  some  places,  and  to  take 
other  like  measures,  in  order  to  do  away  with  whatever  might 
be  considered  offensive.1 

But  the  result  sought  was  not  attained.  "  The  revision  and 
expurgation  of  the  books  was  continued  under  the  direction  of 
the  board,  and  all  the  objectionable  passages  were  either  stamped 
with  ink  from  a  wooden  block,  or  the  leaves  pasted  together  or 
removed,  or  a  volume  discontinued  as  a  text-book  or  a  library- 
book.  This  course,  however,  on  the  part  of  the  trustees,  was 
not  satisfactory,  and  did  not  in  the  least  abate  the  demands  of 
the  applicants  for  a  separate  provision  to  be  made  for  their 
schools  from  the  school  fund,  and  the  controversy  subsequently 
became  more  animated  than  ever  before.  The  mutilated  vol- 
umes were  gradually  worn  out  and  rendered  unfit  for  use,  and 
were  replaced  by  new  books,  which  were  permitted  to  go  into 
the  schools  without  change  or  expurgation,  and  the  discussion 
in  reference  to  the  text-books  subsided."2 

The  Annual  Report  for  1841  makes  the  following  mention 
of  the  subject :  "  The  Board  of  Trustees,  being  sincerely 
desirous  of  removing  every  possible  objection  to  the  course  of 
instruction  in  their  schools,  to  which  the  most  conscientious 
could  with  propriety  object,  resolved  upon  the  expurgation  of 
the  books  used  in  them,  of  every  passage  casting  imputations 
upon  the  doctrines,  practices,  or  characters,  as  such,  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  or  its  members,  in  the  vain  hope,  as  it 
proved,  of  putting  an  end  to  the  difficulties.  They  lament  that 
their  efforts  have  thus  far  failed  of  accomplishing  the  end  so 
earnestly  desired  by  every  philanthropic  mind." 

1  Among  the  passages  it  was  decided  to  erase  was  the  article  "  John  Huss  "  in 
Putnam's  Sequel.     It  contained   the    following   sentence :  "  Huss,  John,  a  zealous 
reformer  from  popery,  who'  lived  in  Bohemia  toward  the  close  of  the  fourteenth,  and 
the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  centuries.     He  was  bold  and  persevering ;    but    at 
length,  trusting  to  the  deceitful  Catholics,  he  was  by  them  brought  to  trial,  condemned 
as  a  heretic,  and  burnt  at  the  stake." 

2  Bourne,  pp.  348,  349. 


The  Controversy  of  1840  99 

The  following  declaration  of  the  position  of  the  Society  was 
submitted  to  the  Board  of  Trustees  on  November  6,  1840,  but 
was  laid  on  the  table  : 

"In  consequence  of  unfounded  rumors  prevalent  in  the  city,  the  Trustees 
of  the  New  York  Public  School  Society  deem  it  proper  to  state  that  the 
obliterations  in  the  books  used  in  the  public  schools  have  been  made  under 
their  direction,  from  an  earnest  desire  to  remove,  as  far  as  possible,  all  obsta- 
cles to  the  co-operation  of  every  portion  of  the  community  with  them  in  the 
business  of  public  education.  They  further  deem  it  proper  to  state,  that  this 
matter  of  expurgation  has  been  long  a  subject  of  consideration  with  them,  and 
has  only  been  delayed  for  the  reasons  set  forth  in  their  address  now  before 
the  public."  l 

Meanwhile  the  Catholics,  undeterred  by  the  action  of  the 
Board  of  Assistant  Aldermen,  had  decided  to  renew  their  appli- 
cation, and  several  meetings  had  been  held.  A  strong  petition 
to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  was  adopted  on  September  2ist 
(1840),  the  schools  named  therein  being  St.  Patrick's  school,  St. 
Peter's  school,  St.  Mary's  school,  St.  Joseph's  school,  St.  James' 
school,  St.  Nicholas'  school,  Transfiguration  Church  school,  and 
St.  John's  school ;  and  this  was  promptly  followed  by  protests 
and  remonstrances  from  the  Public  School  Society  and  from 
representatives  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.2  A  special 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  was  held  on  October  29th, 
and  continued  on  the  3Oth,  at  which  the  subject  was  discussed 
exhaustively  by  Bishop  Hughes  for  the  Catholics,  Theodore 
Sedgwick  and  Hiram  Ketchum  for  the  Public  School  Society, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  E.  Bond,  the.  Rev.  Dr.  Nathan  Bangs, 
and  Dr.  David  M.  Reese  for  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Knox  for  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  and  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Gardner  Spring  for  the  Presbyterian  Church.  The  debate 
was  carried  on  with  great  spirit,  in  the  presence  of  a  very  large 
assembly  of  deeply  interested  listeners. 

1  The  "address"  referred  to  was  doubtless  one  of  the  several  memorials  pre- 
sented on  behalf  of  the  Society  to  the  Common  Council  during  this  year. 

2  It  is  interesting  to  note  the  change  in  the  attitude  of  this  church  from  that 
taken  in  1831-1832  (see  Chapter  X). 


ioo  The  New  Y.ork  Public  School 

The  special  committee  to  which  the  matter  had  been  referred 
spent  some  time  in  visiting  the  schools  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  and  also  the  schools  of  the  petitioners,  and  made 
ineffectual  attempts  to  bring  about  a  compromise.  Finally,  on 
January  n,  1841,  it  presented  a  report  adverse  to  the  granting 
of  the  petitions,  and  this  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen 
by  a  vote  of  1 5  to  i . 

Having  been  defeated  by  a  unanimous  vote  in  one  branch  of 
the  Common  Council,  and  by  a  vote  all  but  unanimous  in  the 
other,  the  Catholics  decided  to  carry  the  question  to  the  Legisla- 
ture for  settlement. 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  BOARD  OF   EDUCATION   ESTABLISHED     ^ 

A  STRENUOUS  and  well-directed  campaign  was  at  once 
organized  by  the  Catholics,  who  were  undaunted  by  their  over- 
whelming defeat  in  the  Common  Council,  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter.  Early  in  1841  meetings  were  held  in  every 
ward  and  petitions  were  widely  circulated,  about  seven  thou- 
sand signatures  being  obtained.  It  was  deemed  inexpedient, 
however,  to  present  the  petitions  at  Albany  as  emanating  from 
the  Roman  Catholics  as  a  religious  body,  and  when  laid  before 
the  Legislature  they  appeared  as  petitions  from  citizens  of  New 
York  City.  Petitions  from  citizens,  protesting  against  any 
diversion  of  the  school  moneys  from  their  lawful  objects, 
were  also  forwarded  to  the  Legislature.  All  these  memorials 
were  referred  to  the  Hon.  John  C.  Spencer,  Secretary  of  State 
and  ex  officio  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools. 

On  the  26th  of  April  Mr.  Spencer  presented  a  long  and  impor- 
tant report,  in  which  he  reviewed  at  considerable  length  the 
work  of  the  Public  School  Society  in  providing  means  of  educa- 
tion in  this  city.  While  on  the  whole  commending  it,  he  pointed 
out  that,  in  spite  of  "  the  commendable  and  vigorous  efforts  "  of 
the  Trustees,  less  than  half  of  the  children  in  New  York  between* 
four  and  sixteen  years  of  age  were  receiving  the  benefits  of 
education.  He  referred  to  the  anomaly  that  a  "  private  corpora- 
tion, existing  independently,  not  amenable  in  any  form  to  the  • 
laws  or  to  the  Legislature,"  should  perform  an  important  function 
of  government,  and  stated  that  education  could  not  be  consid- 
ered a  subject  of  local  interest  in  the  city  of  New  York  more 
than  in  any  other  part  of  the  State ;  that  "  however  acceptable 

101 


IO2  The  New  York  Public  School 

the  services  of  such  a  Society  may  have  been  in  the  first  imper- 
fect effort  to  establish  common  schools,  however  willing  the 
people  may  have  been  to  submit  to  an  institution  which  promised 
immediate  benefit,  and  however  praiseworthy  and  successful 
may  have  been  its  efforts,  yet  it  involves  a  principle  so  hostile 
to  the  whole  spirit  of  our  institutions,  that  it  is  impossible  it 
should  be  long  sustained  amid  the  increased  intelligence  which 
its  own  exertions  have  contributed  to  produce,  especially  when 
other  and  more  congenial  means  of  attaining  the  same  objects 
have  been  pointed  out,  and  when,  therefore,  the  necessity  which 
called  it  into  existence  has  ceased  "  ;  that  in  Boston,  with  schools 
"  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  any  others  in  our  country,"  the  mana- 
gers of  the  schools  had  for  years  been  elected  by  the  people 
in  the  several  wards;  that  "it  must  be  admitted  that  the  Public 
School  Society  has  not  accomplished  the  principal  purpose  of 
its  organization,  and  for  which  the  public  funds  have  been  so 
freely  bestowed  upon  it  —  the  education  of  the  great  body  of 
the  children  of  the  city." 

Mr.  Spencer  therefore  outlined  a  plan  of  education  in  New 
York  City,  which  provided  for  the  election  of  a  commissioner 
of  common  schools  in  each  ward ;  the  extension  of  the  general 
school  laws  of  the  State  to  the  city,  with  certain  modifications ; 
the  transfer  to  such  commissioners  of  "  the  schools  of  the  Public 
School  Society,  and  the  schools  of  the  other  associations  and 
asylums  now  receiving  the  public  money,  as  schools  under  their 
general  jurisdiction,  leaving  the  immediate  government  and  man- 
agement of  them  to  their  respective  trustees  and  directors  "  ;  the 
establishment,  by  the  commissioners,  of  schools  in  other  parts  of 
the  city,  as  district  schools ;  and  the  payment  of  the  public  school 
money  by  the  Chamberlain  directly  to  the  commissioners. 

Governor  Seward  and  Commissioner  Spencer  visited  New 
York  and  held  personal  consultations  with  the  Trustees  of  the 
Public  School  Society  and  their  opponents  ;  and  a  full  hearing 
was  given  by  the  Senate  Committee  on  Literature.  In  answer 
to  Mr.  Spencer's  report,  the  Trustees  of  the  Society  presented 


The  Board  of  Education  Established          103 

an  elaborate  memorial  and  remonstrance.  They  devoted  con- 
siderable space  to  refuting  his  statement  regarding  the  number 
of  children  unprovided  for,  and  offered  three  objections  to  the 
scheme  proposed,  viz. :  ( i )  its  tendency  to  associate  itself  with 
party  politics,  (2)  its  want  of  uniformity,  and  (3)  its  incapacity 
to  remove  the  difficulties  alleged  to  be  inherent  in  the  present 
system. 

The  bill  introduced  by  the  Committee  on  Literature  differed 
in  many  points  from  the  recommendations  made  by  Mr.  Spencer ; 
but  as,  after  considerable  debate,  it  was  decided  to  postpone 
action  until  January,  1842,  it  need  not  detain  us  longer.  The 
decision  of  the  Senate  to  postpone  action  was  made  by  the 
narrow  vote  of  n  to  10. 

The  school  question  became  an  important  issue  in  the  suc- 
ceeding campaign  in  this  city,  and  every  effort  was  made  by 
both  parties  to  the  controversy  to  influence  the  election  of 
Senators  and  Assemblymen.  Letters  were  written  to  all  the 
candidates,  asking  them  to  answer  the  question  whether  or  not 
they  favored  the  Public  School  Society.  The  result  of  the 
election  was  not  decisive,  and  the  battleground  was  again 
shifted  to  Albany. 

In  his  annual  message  for  1842  Governor  Seward  treated 
of  the  subject  at  some  length.  After  stating  that  there  were 
twenty  thousand  children  in  New  York,  of  suitable  age,  who 
were  "  not  at  all  instructed  in  any  of  the  public  schools,  while 
the  whole  number  in  all  the  residue  of  the  state,  not  taught 
in  common  schools,  does  not  exceed  nine  thousand,"  he 
proceeded :  ^u^C-^  $•*& 

"  Happily  in  this,  as  in  other  instances,  the  evil  is  discovered 
to  have  had  its  origin  no  deeper  than  in  a  departure  from  the 
equality  of  general  laws.  In  our  general  system  of  common 
schools,  trustees  chosen  by  tax-paying  citizens,  levy  taxes,  build 
school-houses,  employ  and  pay  teachers,  and  govern  schools 
which  are  subject  to  visitation  by  similarly  elected  inspectors, 
who  certify  the  qualifications  of  teachers ;  and  all  schools  thus 


IO4  The  New  York  Public  School 

constituted  participate  in  just  proportion  in  the  public  moneys, 
which  are  conveyed  to  them  by  commissioners  also  elected  by 
the  people.  ...  In  the  public  school  system  of  the  city,  one 
hundred  persons  are  trustees  and  inspectors,  and,  by  continued 
consent  of  the  Common  Council,  are  the  dispensers  of  an  annual 
average  sum  of  $35,000,  received  from  the  Common  School 
Fund  of  the  state,  and  also  of  a  sum  equal  to  $95,000,  derived 
from  an  undiscriminating  tax  upon  the  real  and  personal  es- 
tates of  the  city.  They  build  school-houses  chiefly  with  public 
funds,  and  appoint  and  remove  teachers,  fix  their  compensation, 
and  prescribe  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  religious  instruction 
which  one  eighth  of  the  rising  generation  of  the  State  shall  be 
required  to  receive.  Their  powers,  more  effective  and  far-reach- 
ing than  are  exercised  by  the  municipality  of  the  city,  are  not 
derived  from  the  community  whose  children  are  educated  and 
whose  property  is  taxed,  nor  even  from  the  state,  which  is  so 
great  an  almoner,  and  whose  welfare  is  so  deeply  concerned, 
but  from  an  incorporated  and  perpetual  association,  which 
grants,  upon  pecuniary  subscription,  the  privileges  even  of  life- 
membership,  and  yet  holds  in  fee  simple  the  public-school 
edifices,  valued  at  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Lest  there 
might  be  too  much  responsibility,  even  to  the  association,  that 
body  can  elect  only  one-half  of  the  trustees,  and  those  thus 
selected  appoint  their  fifty  associates.  The  philanthropy  and 
patriotism  of  the  present  managers  of  the  public  schools,  and 
their  efficiency  in  imparting  instruction,  are  cheerfully  and  grate- 
fully admitted.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  maintain  that  agents  thus 
selected  will  become  unfaithful,  or  that  a  system  that  so  jealously 
excludes  popular  interference  must  necessarily  be  unequal  in  its 
operation.  It  is  only  insisted  that  the  institution,  after  a  fair 
and  sufficient  trial,  has  failed  to  gain  that  broad  confidence 
reposed  in  the  general  system  of  the  state,  and  indispensable 
to  every  scheme  of  universal  education.  ...  I  submit,  there- 
fore, with  entire  willingness  to  approve  whatever  adequate 
remedy  you  may  propose,  the  expediency  of  restoring  to  the 


The  Board  of  Education  Established          105 

people  of  the  city  of  New  York  —  what  I  am  sure  the  people 
of  no  other  part  of  the  state  would,  upon  any  consideration, 
relinquish  —  the  education  of  their  children.  For  this  purpose, 
it  is  only  necessary  to  vest  the  control  of  the  common  schools 
in  a  board  to  be  composed  of  commissioners  elected  by  the 
people ;  which  board  shall  apportion  the  school  moneys  among 
all  the  schools,  including  those  now  existing,  which  shall  be 
organized  and  conducted  in  conformity  to  its  general  regulations 
and  the  laws  of  the  state,  in  the  proportion  of  the  number  of 
pupils  instructed.  It  is  not  left  doubtful  that  the  restoration, 
to  the  common  schools  of  the  city,  of  this  simple  and  equal 
feature  of  the  common  schools  of  the  state,  would  remove  every 
complaint,  .  .  . 

"  This  proposition,  to  gather  the  young  from  the  streets  and 
wharves  into  the  nurseries  which  the  state,  solicitous  for  her 
security  against  ignorance,  has  prepared  for  them,  has  some- 
times been  treated  as  a  device  to  appropriate  the  school  fund 
to  the  endowment  of  seminaries  for  teaching  languages  and 
faiths,  thus  to  perpetuate  the  prejudices  it  seeks  to  remove; 
sometimes  as  a  scheme  for  dividing  that  precious  fund  among 
a  hundred  jarring  sects,  and  thus  increasing  the  religious  ani- 
mosities it  strives  to  heal ;  and  sometimes  as  a  plan  to  subvert 
the  prevailing  religion  and  introduce  one  repugnant  to  the 
consciences  of  our  fellow-citizens ;  while  in  truth,  it  simply 
proposes,  by  enlightening  equally  the  minds  of  all,  to  enable 
them  to  detect  error  wherever  it  may  exist,  and  to  reduce 
uncongenial  masses  into  one  intelligent,  virtuous,  harmonious 
and  happy  people." 

The  committee  to  which  this  part  of  the  Governor's  message 
was  referred  reported  a  bill  providing  for  the  election  of  com- 
missioners and  inspectors  of  common  schools  in  each  ward  and 
extending  to  the  city  the  general  laws  of  the  State  relating  to 
such  officers.  After  an  animated  debate,  the  bill  was  passed, 
with  some  amendments,  and  was  signed  by  the  Governor  April 
11,  1842.  This  law  established  the  first  Board  of  Educa- 


io6  The  New  York  Public  School 

tion  in  New  York  City,  composed  of  two  Commissioners  of 
Common  Schools  for  each  ward,  to  be  chosen  at  a  special 
election  in  June,  at  which  two  Inspectors  and  five  Trustees 
for  each  ward  were  also  to  be  elected.  The  provisions  of 
the  general  school  law  of  the  State  were  extended  to  the  city, 
and  each  ward  was  to  be  considered  as  a  separate  town.  The 
schools  of  the  Public  School  Society  and  those  of  other  incorpo- 
rated societies  were  continued  under  the  management  of  their 
respective  trustees,  and  it  was  distinctly  provided  that  no  school 
/in  which  "any  religious  sectarian  doctrine  or  tenet  shall  be 
taught,  inculcated,  or  practised"  should  receive  any  portion  of 
the  school  moneys. 

The  important  change  thus  effected  was  summarized  in  the 
Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  1853  (the  year  in 
which  the  union  of  the  Public  School  Society  with  the  Board 
occurred)  in  these  words :  "  The  subject  was  brought  before 
the  Common  Council  again,  in  1840,  and  discussed  with  extraor- 
dinary ability  on  all  sides.  It  was  thence  transferred  to  the 
legislature  of  the  State  in  1841,  and  became  so  important  a 
question  of  state  policy  that  at  the  opening  of  the  session  of 
1842,  the  Governor,  in  his  Annual  Message,  after  stating  that 
under  existing  circumstances  twenty  thousand  children  in  the 
city  were  practically  unprovided  with  instruction,  proceeded  as 
follows  "  : 

The  Report  then  recites  a  portion  of  the  language  already 
quoted  from  the  message,  and  continues : 

"  This  recommendation  of  the  Governor  was  extremely  unac- 
ceptable to  a  large  portion  of  the  people  of  the  city,  and  had  it 
not  proposed  to  preserve  the  schools  of  the  Public  School  Soci- 
ety which  had,  deservedly,  the  confidence  and  affection  of  so 
large  a  number  of  the  citizens,  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  popular 
will  would  have  allowed  the  recommendation  of  the  Governor 
to  go  into  useful  effect.  As  it  was,  however,  the  Legislature 
adopted  the  views  of  the  Executive  and  by  law  introduced  into 
this  city  the  Common  School  System  which  had  prevailed  for 


T/te  Board  of  Education  Established  107 

thirty  years  in  the  residue  of  the  State,  placing  the  management 
of  the  schools  in  the  hands  of  Inspectors,  Trustees,  and  Com- 
missioners elected  by  the  people  —  still  allowing  the  Public 
School  Society  and  other  corporations  to  continue  their  existing 
schools  and  participate  in  the  public  funds  according  to  the 
number  of  their  scholars  —  but  prohibiting  such  participation  to 
any  school  '  in  which  any  religious  sectarian  doctrine  or  tenet 
shall  be  taught,  inculcated  or  practised ' "  (pp.  38,  39). 

The  result  of  the  prolonged  contest  was  naturally  viewed  by 
the  Public  School  Society,  which  had  so  stoutly  opposed  any 
change  in  the  existing  system,  with  grave  apprehension.  The 
Annual  Report  for  1842  touches  on  the  subject  briefly: 

"  After  a  successful  career  of  thirty-seven  years,  ...  it  has 
pleased  the  Legislature  of  our  State  to  enact  a  statute  which 
the  Trustees  fear  will  result  in  subjecting  their  noble  Institution 
to  the  blighting  influence  of  party  strife  and  sectarian  animosity. 
The  glory  of  their  system,  its  uniformity,  its  equality  of  privilege 
and  action,  its  freedom  from  all  that  could  justly  offend,  its  pecul- 
iar adaptation  to  a  floating  population  embracing  an  immense 
operative  mass,  unable  from  their  circumstances  to  devote  many 
years  to  educational  pursuits  —  is  dimmed,  they  fear,  forever.  .  .  . 

"  How  far  and  how  long  the  Board  may  be  able  to  continue 
their  schools  under  the  intricate  provisions  of  the  'Act/  they 
are  at  this  time  [May  6,  1842]  unable  to  ascertain.  It  may  be 
sufficient  to  say,  that  the  simple,  comprehensive  and  compact 
system  matured  through  so  many  years  assiduous  examination 
and  careful  adaptation  to  its  object,  is  about  to  be  impaired  if 
not  destroyed  by  the  introduction  of  another  of  complex  char- 
acter, a  system,  which  if  not  impracticable,  is  in  their  judgment 
ill  suited  to  a  city  population." 

The  Society  was  now  burdened  with  a  debt  of  $103,000,  and 
the  Trustees  felt  under  the  necessity  of  being  guided  by  extreme 
prudence  in  their  future  work.  Nevertheless  they  proceeded 
with  the  erection  of  the  building  intended  for  their  seventeenth 
school,  which  was  built  on  property  previously  purchased  in 


io8  The  New  York  Public  School 

Thirteenth  street,  near  Eighth  avenue.  The  school  was  opened 
early  in  January,  1844.  This  building  is,  perhaps,  deserving  of 
more  than  passing  notice,  since  at  the  time  it  was  regarded  as 
a  model  schoolhouse.  The  thirty-ninth  Annual  Report  of  the 
Society  (for  1845)  contained  a  cut  of  the  building,  with  a  descrip- 
tion, plans,  etc.,  accompanied  with  a  statement  that  the  building 
"  embraces  some  important  improvements  in  this  department  of 
architecture."  A  woodcut  of  No.  17  was  printed  on  the  cover 
page  of  the  annual  reports  for  several  years  following.  Although 
a  plain  brick  structure,  three  stories  in  height,  without  any  archi- 
tectural features  of  note,  this  building  was  the  subject  of  special 
remark  among  educators.  County  Superintendent  Stone,  in  his 
annual  report  for  1843,  after  speaking  of  the  "noble  edifices" 
of  the  Public  School  Society,  said  :  "  The  largest  and  most  com- 
manding school  edifice  of  the  society,  No.  17,  is  now  just  being 
completed.  It  is  situated  in  the  upper  part  of  the  city,  upon 
Thirteenth  street,  near  the  Eighth  avenue.  In  this  building  are 
united  all  the  improvements  of  "more  than  thirty  years  experience, 
and  it  appears  to  me  to  be  the  perfection  of  what  a  school  house, 
for  such  large  schools  as  we  have  in  New  York,  should  be." 
The  annual  report  of  County  Superintendent  D.  Meredith  Reese 
for  the  year  1844  refers  to  No.  17  as  a  "model  building,"  and 
says  that  it  "is  every  way  superior  to  any  other."  Dr.  Reese 
states  the  cost  of  the  building  as  follows : 

Cost  of  ground " $  6000 

Cost  of  building 8400 

Cost  of  fitting  up,  furniture,  &c.       .......  1450 

Cost  of  supplies 800 

Cost  of  stoves,  &c. f.  350 

Total  cost  of  No.  17,  opened  in  January,  1844         ....     $17,000 


CHAPTER  XIV 
THE    TWO    SYSTEMS   SIDE    BY   SIDE 

THE  newly  created  Board  of  Education  (consisting  of  thirty- 
four  members  —  two  for  each  of  the  seventeen  wards)  found  its 
course  beset  with  many  difficulties.  Mr.  Boese  sums  up  the 
situation  thus : 

"  The  outgrowth  of  intense  excitement  and  bitter  contro- 
versy, the  subject  of  misconception  and  misrepresentation,  with 
the  prejudices,  animosities,  and  fears  of  a  large  and  influential 
portion  of  the  citizens  arrayed  against  it,  the  new  system  had  to 
contend  with  difficulties  that  seemed  well-nigh  insuperable.  A 
powerful  and  compact  organization,  strong  in  the  character  and 
influence  of  its  individual  members  and  the  justly-earned  appro- 
bation and  sympathy  of  hundreds  of  thousands,  already  occupied 
a  large  portion  of  the  field.  The  one  thoroughly  centralized, 
from  its  origin,  and  disciplined  by  long  experience,  both  as  an 
organization  and  from  the  continuance  of  its  individual  mem- 
bers, with  subordinate  committees  and  local  sections,  all  of  its 
own  erection,  and  responsible  to  the  central  power;  the  other, 
discrete,  apparently  incoherent,  with  as  many  independent  boards 
as  there  were  wards  in  the  city  —  a  complex  machinery  of  trus- 
tees, inspectors,  and  commissioners  from  all  classes  of  society, 
and  with  powers  and  duties  not  so  sharply  defined  as  to  prevent 
injurious  disputes  —  with  the  central  Board  of  Education  virtu- 
ally dependent  upon  the  dictum  of  the  local  ones,  with  officers 
of  every  grade  without  experience,  it  would  seem  a  wonder  that 
the  new  system  had  not  died  at  its  very  birth.  But  it  contained 
a  vital  element  more  than  sufficient  to  overcome  all  these  difficul- 
ties, more  than  enough  to  overbalance  the  advantages  possessed 

109 


no  The  New  York  Public  School 

by  its  powerful  rival.  It  was  based  on  a  DIRECT  and  IMMEDIATE 
APPEAL  TO  THE  PEOPLE.  No  body  of  men,  no  matter  what  their 
character  or  social  standing,  were  placed,  without  or  against  the 
will  of  the  people,  between  them  and  their  children.  If  they 
have  one  interest  which,  in  this  land  of  self-government,  they 
should  jealously  guard,  and  keep  as  closely  as  possible  under 
their  control,  surely  it  is  the  selection  of  those  into  whose  hands 
is  committed  that  most  sacred  and  responsible  trust,  the  educa- 
tion of  their  offspring  "  (pp.  68,  69). 

Owing  to  the  peculiar  provisions  of  the  act  of  1842,  the 
Board  of  Education  was  unable  to  open  any  schools  during  the 
year  in  which  it  came  into  existence.  The  first  school  estab- 
lished was  opened  on  January  16,  1843,  in  the  Twelfth  Ward, 
and  was  designated  as  District  School  No.  I.1  The  first  An- 
nual Report  of  the  Board,  adopted  May  30,  1843,  showed  that 
five  district  schools,  one  district  primary  school,  and  one  district 
colored  school  had  been  organized.  In  1844  there  were  sixteen 
district  schools  (including  one  primary  and  one  colored) ;  in  1845, 
eighteen  ward  schools,  two  primary  schools,  and  one  colored 
school ;  in  1848  the  number  of  ward  schools  was  twenty,  besides 
two  ward  primary  schools  and  two  colored  ward  schools. 

The  act  of  1842  was  soon  found  to  be  very  inadequate 
for  the  purposes  intended.  How  it  was  regarded  by  those 
appointed  to  execute  it  may  be  judged  by  the  following 
excerpt  from  the  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education 
for  1843 : 

"  If  the  design  of  the  act  of  April  nth,  1842,  was  to  destroy 
that  system  [the  system  established  by  the  Public  School  Soci- 
ety], and  to  substitute  in  place  of  it,  the  defective  and  imperfect 
system  which  prevails  throughout  the  State,  then  it  exhibits  a 
lamentable  want  of  practical  acquaintance  with  the  subject,  and 

1  The  term  "  district  school "  was  used  in  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  Board  of 
Education  for  1843  and  ^44-  In  1845  the  schools  were  termed  "ward  schools," 
which  designation  was  used  for  a  number  of  years.  The  law  of  1844  prescribed 
"  ward  school "  as  the  appropriate  term. 


The  Two  Systems  Side  by  Side  1 1 1 

an  ignorance  of  the  wants  of  this  community,  such  as  would  be 
manifested  by  an  attempt  to  extend  the  laws  and  customs  of 
savage  life  over  civilized  society." 

Fortunately,  amendments  were  made  in  1843  and  1844  which 
rendered  the  new  law  more  workable.  One  of  the  most  serious 
defects  remedied  by  the  "Act  more  effectually  to  provide  for 
common  school  education  in  the  city  and  county  of  New  York," 
passed  May  7,  1844,  was  the  provision  in  the  earlier  law  giving 
discretionary  power  to  the  school  officers  of  the  wards  in  the 
matter  of  erecting  new  schoolhouses  and  opening  new  schools. 
By  the  act  last  mentioned  this  power  was  vested  in  the  Board  of 
Education.1 

"  The  locations  [for  new  schoolhouses]  selected  by  the  ward 
officers,"  says  Mr.  Boese",  "had  little  or  no  reference  toward 
lines.  By  the  provisions  of  the  law,  any  pupil  residing  in  the 
county  was  entitled,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Public  Schools,  to 
attend  any  school.  Availing  themselves  of  this,  officers  often 
chose  sites  close  to  the  ward  lines,  sometimes  not  far  from  the 
junction  of  several  wards,  so  as  to  draw  pupils  from  other  wards, 
while  secure  that  no  other  school  could  be  built  in  their  own. 
Some  of  the  Public  Schools  suffered  greatly  from  having  new 
schools  erected  within  a  very  short  distance.  The  buildings  were 
mostly  small,  and  injudiciously  constructed.  In  all  matters  in- 
volving expenditure,  the  trustees  and  the  Board  of  Education 
were  practically  held  in  check  by  the  rigid  economy  of  the  Pub- 
lic School  Society,  now  more  rigid  than  ever,  it  being  highly 
important  to  either  party  that  there  should  be  no  unfavorable 
comparative  statement  as  to  cost"  (pp.  69,  70). 

The  buildings  erected  up  to  1850,  including  sites  and 
fitting  up,  ranged  in  cost  from  $10,752.54  (for  Ward  School 

1  By  this  change  a  "  salutary  check  "  was  "  imposed  upon  the  proceedings  which 
had  plunged  the  city  already  into  so  fearful  an  amount  of  debt."  See  annual  report 
of  County  Superintendent  Reese,  dated  December  31,  1844.  Dr.  Reese  pointed 
out  that  the  total  amount  of  taxes  levied  for  school  purposes  in  the  city  and  county 
of  New  York  since  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1842  was  $625,462.15. 


1 1 2  The  New  York  Public  School 

No.  i,  the  site  for  which  was  granted  by  the  Corporation)  to 
$30,66 i. 26  (for  Ward  School  No.  lo).1 

Most  of  the  ward  schools  were  organized  with  three  depart- 
ments, on  the  same  plan  as  that  adopted  in  the  public  schools. 
Each  ward  was  practically  a  school  district,  and  in  each  district 
the  Trustees  were  the  most  important  officers.  They  had  exclu- 
sive authority  to  employ  teachers,  and  to  pay  their  wages  by 
drafts  on  the  Commissioners  of  the  wards,  and  they  also  had 
the  safe  keeping  of  all  property  belonging  to  the  schools.  No 
teacher  could  be  employed  unless  two  Inspectors  certified  as  to 
the  candidate's  moral  character,  learning,  and  ability.  In  the 
matter  of  text-books  there  was  no  uniformity.  In  some  schools 
the  Trustees  selected  the  books,  in  others  the  Inspectors  claimed 
this  as  their  prerogative,  while  in  still  others  the  teachers  were 
vested  with  discretionary  power  over  the  books.2  In  these  mat- 
ters the  Board  of  Education  had  no  authority. 

The  monitorial  system,  which  had  been  very  considerably 
modified  by  the  Public  School  Society  in  the  course  of  years, 
was  not  adopted  in  the  ward  schools ;  a  larger  number  of 
teachers  were  employed,  and  more  numerous  classrooms  were 
provided.  The  Trustees  for  each  ward  purchased  their  own 
supplies,  the  bills  for  which  were  paid  by  the  Board  of  Education. 
The  character  and  ability  of  the  teachers  employed  varied  widely. 
Many  of  them  were  drawn  from  the  Public  School  Society,  offers 
of  higher  salaries  being  potent  in  not  a  few  cases.  The  report 
of  County  Superintendent  Reese  for  1844  alleges  that  "teachers 
have  been  bought  off  from  the  service  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  by  an  advance  of  wages,  in  some  instances  200  per 
cent,  which  extravagance  was  as  culpable  as  it  was  needless,  for 
they  could  as  readily  have  been  secured  by  half  the  annual 
stipend  voluntarily  proffered  them." 

Under  the  circumstances,  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  secure 
uniformity  in  the  school  system,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that 

1  See  report  of  the  Finance  Committee,  January  16,  1850. 

2  See  annual  report  of  County  Superintendent  Reese  for  1844. 


The   Two  Systems  Side  by  Side  113 

charges  of  extravagance,  similar  to  that  already  cited,  were 
freely  made.  As  early  as  1843,  County  Superintendent  Stone, 
in  his  annual  report,  stated  that  more  than  $75,000  had  been 
paid  from  the  city  treasury  under  the  new  laws,  and  declared 
that  this  was  a  vast  and  for  the  most  part  unnecessary  expense ; 
and  in  the  above-mentioned  report  for  1844  Superintendent 
Reese  referred  to  the  purchase  of  sites  and  the  erection  of 
schoolhouses  for  which  there  was  neither  necessity  nor  use. 

In  spite  of  the  friction  between  the  two  systems,  the  Trustees 
of  the  Public  School  Society  took  a  hopeful  view  of  the  situation. 
In  their  Annual  Report  for  1845  they  referred  to  the  diminished 
attendance  in  their  schools  on  account  of  the  schools  organized 
under  the  new  law,  and  to  the  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  books  and 
the  course  of  instruction  in  the  latter.  In  the  Report  for  the  fol- 
lowing year  they  said  :  "  Although  the  competition  between  the 
existing  Ward  Schools  and  those  of  this  Society  must  neces- 
sarily create  some  collision  in  the  operation  of  the  two  institu- 
tions, the  Trustees  are  gratified  in  being  able  to  state  their 
belief,  that  many  of  the  schools  under  the  New  Law  are  judi- 
ciously conducted,  and  present  a  prospect  of  public  advantage  in 
their  respective  locations.  Some  modifications  of  this  Law  are 
certainly  very  desirable,  but  the  Trustees  of  the  *  Public  School 
Society  '  are  desirous  of  regarding  the  members  of  the  '  Board 
of  Education '  and  of  its  branches,  rather  as  coadjutors  than  as 
competitors  in  the  interesting  work  in  which  they  are  engaged. 
In  this  spirit,  they  have  granted  to  the  'Teacher's  Institute/ 
an  association  composed  of  the  teachers  of  the  ward,  public  and 
corporate  schools,  the  use  of  the  Trustees  Hall  for  their 
meetings." 

In  the  mean  time  they  continued  their  work  on  its  well-estab- 
lished lines.  One  special  feature  is  deserving  of  mention  : 

"From  1844  to  1850,  the  venerable  Josiah  Holbrook,  the  founder  of  the 
lyceum  system  in  Massachusetts,  exerted  a  highly  favorable  influence  over 
the  schools  by  his  lectures  and  practical  instructions  in  map  drawing,  min- 
eralogy, and  elementary  geology,  and  the  promotion  of  a  system  of  interchange 


H4  The  New  York  Public  School 

of  specimens  of  minerals,  maps,  drawings,  penmanship,  &c.,  between  the 
schools  of  the  city  and  those  of  the  State,  and  other  States  and  countries. 
This  method  of  domestic  and  international  exchange  was  encouraged  and 
supported  by  the  highest  officers  of  the  several  States  and  the  General  Govern- 
ment, and  by  the  principal  representatives  of  foreign  powers.1' 1 

The  Society,  however,  was  soon  confronted  with  a  contest  as 
to  its  right  to  erect  additional  buildings  under  the  new  laws. 
As  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  Public  School  No.  17  was 
opened  in  January,  1844,  and  in  the  same  year  No.  18  was 
established  in  hired  apartments.  A  site  for  a  new  schoolhouse 
was  purchased,  in  Forty-seventh  street  near  Eighth  avenue,  and 
in  1846  the  new  building  for  No.  18,  the  last  erected  by  the 
Public  School  Society,  was  opened.  A  number  of  small  build- 
ings for  primary  schools  were  also  erected,  and  other  primary 
schools  were  established  in  rented  premises. 

The  Board  of  Education  questioned  the  right  of  the  Society 
to  build  additional  schoolhouses,  and  in  February,  1846,  called 
upon  the  Society  for  full  particulars  as  to  buildings  erected  since 
May  7,  1844.  The  request  was  complied  with.  Subsequently 
the  Board  granted  the  Society  a  hearing,  and  the  subject  was 
fully  discussed  in  all  its  bearings.  The  outcome  was  the  adoption 
of  a  resolution  by  the  Board  to  the  effect  that  the  Society  had  no 
right,  after  the  passage  of  the  act  of  May  7,  1844,  to  establish 
any  new  schools  entitled  to  participate  in  the  apportionment 
of  the  school  moneys.  The  Society  thereupon  appealed  to 
the  Legislature,  which  in  1848  passed  a  law  legalizing  such 
schools  as  the  Society  had  established  after  the  date  above 
given,  but  providing  that  it  should  not  establish  any  new  school 
without  the  consent  of  the  Board  of  Education.  This  law  also 
empowered  the  Society  to  purchase,  erect,  or  hire  other  build- 
ings in  place  of  those  occupied  by  its  schools,  when  necessary 
for  the  purpose  of  existing  schools. 

The  Society  was.  thus  placed  at  the  mercy  of  the  Board  of 
Education.  The  law  of  1848  was  the  beginning  of  the  end. 

1  History  of  the  Common  School  System  of  the  State  of  New  York,  p.  315. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  TWO   SYSTEMS   CONSOLIDATED 

ALREADY  it  had  been  perceived  by  not  a  few  observers  that 
the  two  school  systems  could  not  exist  side  by  side  indefinitely. 
Before  the  Board  of  Education  had  really  entered  on  its  work, 
County  Superintendent  Stone,  in  his  report  for  the  year  1842, 
said  :  "  I  cannot  but  hope  that  the  existing  law  will  be  so  modi- 
fied as  to  prevent  the  formation  of  this  double  system  of  com- 
mon schools  for  the  city  of  New  York.  .  .  .  One  proposition 
that  has  been  discussed,  and  so  far  as  I  know,  received  the 
universal  favor,  is  to  unite  with  the  Public  School  Society  the 
Board  of  Education,  as  created  under  the  new  law,  as  a  super- 
vising legislative  board,  dispensing  altogether  with  the  array  of 
ward  trustees  and  inspectors,  brought  into  existence  by  the 
recent  act.  The  efficient  members  of  the  Public  School  Society 
would  form  the  best  possible  substitute  for  the  last-mentioned 
legion  of  officers." 

In  his  report  for  1843  Mr.  Stone  suggested  placing  all  the 
schools  under  the  immediate  care  and  management  of  the 
Public  School  Society,  subject  to  the  Board  of  Education, 
the  latter  to  be  elected  by  the  people,  to  have  a  voice  in 
opening  new  schools  and  erecting  new  buildings,  and  to  have 
entire  control  of  the  school  revenues.  In  the  following  year 
Dr.  D.  Meredith  Reese,  County  Superintendent,  repeated  his 
"  lamented  predecessor's  "  remonstrance  against  "  two  lines  of 
schools"  as  disastrous  to  the  cause  of  popular  education, 
quoted  Mr.  Stone's  words,  and  added  :  "  Nor  can  it  be  doubted, 
that  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  the  great  cause  of  universal 
education,  the  trustees  of  the  public  school  society  would  be 

"5 


n6  The  New  York  Public  School 

ready  to  transfer  all  the  property  held  in  their  name,  to  the 
corporation  of  the  city,  or  conform  to  such  other  modification 
of  their  charter,  as  would  better  serve  the  public  interest." 

As  time  went  on,  the  objections  to  the  double  system  became 
clearer,  and  by  1848  it  was  evident  to  many  that  the  Society 
would  soon  have  to  yield.  In  that  year  County  Superinten- 
dent Joseph  McKeen,  in  his  report  to  the  State  Superintendent 
of  Common  Schools,  said  :  "  Two  of  my  predecessors  in  office 
have  recommended,  on  observing  the  necessity  of  having  the 
Common  Schools  of  the  City  under  one  management,  'that 
the  enactment  of  such  laws  be  procured,  as  shall  place  all  the 
Public  and  Ward  Schools  under  the  immediate  charge  of  the 
Public  School  Society,  subject  to  the  Board  of  Education, 
through  the  hands  of  which  alone  its  funds  could  be  received.' 

"This  reiterated  recommendation,  first  made  in  1844,  and 
again  in  1845,  nas  not  been  heeded,  and  probably  it  never  will 
be.  I  would  venture,  therefore,  the  suggestion,  that  by  a  spirit 
of  compromise  on  the  part  of  both  the  elected  Ward  Officers 
and  the  Trustees  of  the  Pub  lie.  School  Society,  the  School  laws 
might  be  so  modified  and  altered,  as  to  merge  the  two  in  one 
system,  under  the  charge  of  the  officers  elected  by  the  people." 

The  resources  of  the  Society  became  so  straitened  that  it 
was  obliged  to  apply  repeatedly  to  the  Board  of  Education  for 
funds  to  make  up  deficiencies.  An  application  for  $10,000  was 
made  in  1848,  and  $8000  was  granted.  In  1849  tne  sum  °f 
$26,103.48  was  asked;  $22,932.62  was  allowed.  In  1850  the 
deficit  was  $50,140.10.  When  the  Board  of  Education  reduced 
this  amount  by  $15,000,  the  Society  laid  the  matter  before  the 
Legislature,  and  secured  the  passage  of  an  amendment  to  the 
school  bill  then  pending,1  authorizing  the  Board  of  Education 
to  provide  the  Society  "with  all  necessary  moneys  to  make  all 
proper  repairs,  alterations  and  improvements  in  the  various 
school  premises  occupied  by  them."  It  was  confidently  but 
vainly  hoped  by  the  Trustees  that  this  would  end  the  troubles 

1  The  act  passed  July  3,  1851. 


The   Two  Systems  Consolidated  117 

of  the  Society.  The  Board  of  Education  still  refused  to  furnish 
all  the  money  asked  for,  and  the  Society  was  forced  to  raise 
funds  by  mortgaging  its  property  still  further. 

The  sentiment  in  favor  of  one  uniform  system  of  education 
for  the  city  was  continually  growing  stronger.  The  forty-fourth 
Annual  Report  of  the  Society,  covering  the  year  1849,  recog- 
nized the  existence  of  this  sentiment  in  the  following  words: 
"  The  existing  competition  (if  it  may  be  called  such)  between 
the  Ward  Schools  and  those  of  the  Society,  may  be  made  to  be, 
and  is  believed  by  your  Trustees  already  to  have  been  advanta- 
geous to  the  public.  The  consolidation  of  all  the  Common 
Schools  under  one  system,  advocated  perhaps  unthinkingly  by 
some,  should  be  well  examined,  especially  by  tax  payers,  before 
it  is  adopted." 

The  reports  for  the  two  following  years  are  significantly 
silent  on  the  subject. 

The  first  positive  step  toward  union  was  taken  by  the  Board 
of  Education  on  January  21,  1852,  when  a  resolution  was 
adopted  providing  for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  three 
to  confer  with  a  committee  of  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School 
Society  "for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  union  of  the  two 
systems."  Dr.  William  Hibbard,  Samuel  A.  Crapo,  and  Edward 
L.  Beadle  were  appointed  as  the  committee,  and  a  communica- 
tion from  the  chairman,  asking  that  the  matter  be  taken  into 
consideration,  was  laid  before  the  Trustees  of  the  Society  on 
January  26th.  A  committee  of  conference  was  duly  appointed, 
consisting  of  Messrs.  George  T.  Trimble  (President  of  the 
Society),  Peter  Cooper,  and  Joseph  B.  Collins.1  Numerous 
conferences  followed.  On  September  i/th  the  Board  of 
Trustees  adopted  a  resolution  "in  favor  of  a  union  with  the 
Ward  School  System,  provided  they  can  be  equitably  repre- 

1  This  committee  was  subsequently  enlarged  by  adding  to  it  Dr.  Charles  E.  Pierson 
and  James  F.  De  Peyster.  The  Board  of  Education  committee  was  increased  by  the 
appointment  of  Jeremiah  E.  Gary,  Luther  C.  Carter,  and  Nelson  J.  Waterbury,  Mr. 
Crapo  dropping  out. 


n8  The  New  York  Public  School 

sented  in  the  management  of  the  common  schools  of  our  city." 
The  committees  at  length  agreed  upon  a  plan  of  union,  and  on 
the  1 5th  of  October  sundry  propositions  were  laid  before  the 
Society's  Trustees,  which,  in  brief,  were  as  follows  : 

The  Society  to  transfer  to  the  city  all  the  real  and  personal 
estate  held  by  it,  subject  to  all  the  debts,  liens,  and  encum- 
brances thereon,  the  payment  thereof  to  be  assumed  by  the 
city,  the  property  so  conveyed  to  be  forever  devoted  to  the  pur- 
poses of  public  education ;  the  Society  to  surrender  and  discon- 
tinue its  organization  and  existence ;  the  Society,  previous  to  its 
dissolution,  to  select  and  appoint  fifteen  of  its  Trustees  to  be 
Commissioners  at  large  of  common  schools  and  members  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  to  serve  as  such  during  the  terms  of 
the  then  members  of  said  Board ;  and  also  to  appoint  three  of 
its  members  to  be  Trustees  of  common  schools  for  each  of  the 
wards  in  which  one  or  more  schools  of  the  Society  were  estab- 
lished, such  Trustees  to  hold  office  until  January  i,  1855,  1856, 
and  1857,  respectively. 

These  propositions  were  adopted  by  the  Trustees  by  a  vote 
of  21  to  7,1  and  arrangements  were  made  by  the  two  bodies  for 
drafting  a  bill  to  be  submitted  to  the  Legislature.  The  bill  was 
agreed  to  in  January  following  ( 1 85  3)  by  both  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion and  the  Trustees  of  the  Society,  and  on  the  i/th  of  that 
month  a  general  meeting  of  the  Society  was  called  to  consider  it. 
The  plan  was  approved,  and  the  Trustees  were  authorized  to 
do  all  that  was  necessary  to  procure  the  enactment  of  the  bill. 

In  the  preamble  accompanying  the  resolutions  adopted  at  this 
meeting,  the  motives  impelling  the  Society  to  the  course  taken 

1  The  vote  was  as  follows : 

Yeas  —  George  T.  Trimble,  Peter  Cooper,  Joseph  B.  Collins,  H.  H.  Barrow, 
F.  W.  Downer,  James  F.  De  Peyster,  John  Davenport,  Benjamin  Ellis,  William  Man- 
deville,  Almon  Merwin,  William  H.  Neilson,  R.  G.  Perkins,  M.D.,  Charles  E.  Pier- 
son,  M.D.,  Israel  Russell,  Henry  M.  Schieffelin,  Samuel  W.  Seton,  Linus  W.  Stevens, 
James  W.  Underbill,  Walter  Underbill,  J.  B.  Varnum,  L.  B.  Ward  —  21. 

Nays  —  John  T.  Adams,  James  B.  Brinsmade,  W.  P.  Cooledge,  John  R.  Kurd, 
J.  W.  C.  Leveridge,  Joshua  S.  Underbill,  Washington  R.  Vermilye  —  7. 


The  Two  Systems  Consolidated  119 

were  set  forth  with  great  solemnity  and  force.  The  principal 
statements  may  be  summarized  thus :  that,  in  consequence  of 
the  construction  put  by  the  Board  of  Education  on  the  act  of 
1842,  the  Trustees,  in  order  to  avoid  a  clashing  of  jurisdiction, 
surrendered  their  independent  right  to  establish  new  schools; 
that  in  1851  they  procured  an  amendment  to  the  school  act 
which,  in  the  judgment  expressed  by  members  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  would  enable  them  (the  Trustees)  to  obtain  all  neces- 
sary funds  for  carrying  on  and  improving  the  schools  under 
their  charge,  but  said  Board  refused  to  furnish  the  Society  with 
the  necessary  funds  when  solicited  to  do  so  ;  and  that  "  notwith- 
standing the  Public  School  Society  have,  during  a  period  of 
nearly  half  a  century,  conducted,  with  eminent  success,  energy, 
and  economy,  a  great  educational  institution,  in  which  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  children  have  received  instruction,"  they  yield 
"  to  the  necessity  of  the  case  as  above  stated,  and  not  from  a 
conviction  of  their  best  judgment,  and  also  hoping  that  a 
weighty  sense  of  its  importance  will  lead  to  the  management  of 
our  common  schools  being  committed  to  the  hands  of  worthy 
citizens  who  will  consult  the  public  weal  exclusively." 

In  their  forty-seventh  (and  last)  Annual  Report,  presented 
to  the  Society  in  January,  1853,  the  Trustees,  after  referring 
briefly  to  the  proposed  union,  gave  added  proof  of  their  un- 
selfish, public-spirited,  and  devout  attitude  in  the  following 
statement : 

"The  subject  was  one  of  no  ordinary  solicitude  to  the 
Trustees,  who  could  not  consent  to  surrender  any  of  their 
chartered  rights,  unless  for  subserving  the  best  interests  of 
Common  School  Education  for  the  City,  to  which  they  had  so 
long  devoted  and  pledged  themselves.  This  Union  offering  a 
better  hope  for  realizing  their  views  and  intentions  than  any 
other  course,  and  a  prospect  that  their  influence,  and  the  experi- 
ence of  both  might  thus  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  valued 
cause,  they  consented  to  the  preparation  of  a  bill,  to  be  enacted, 
to  effect  this  purpose.  .  .  . 


I2O  The  New  York  Public  School 

"  While  the  matter  is  thus  pending,  we  cannot  but  express 
our  earnest  desires  that  its  results  may  prove  it  to  have  been  the 
best  measure  that  could  be  adopted  under  existing  circumstances, 
for  carrying  out  the  all-important  purposes  for  which  this  Soci- 
ety has  so  long  and  patiently  toiled :  they  reverently  implore 
the  aid  of  a  watchful  and  over-ruling  Providence  in  effecting 
these  important  ends. 

"The  Board  also  indulge  an  earnest  hope  that  all  regrets 
arising  from  the  termination  of  the  separate  labors  of  this  noble 
Institution,  may  be  obliterated  by  the  successful  action  of  the 
united  bodies,  and  that  their  influence  and  experience  may  be 
recognized  in  the  increased  zeal  and  activity  of  all  to  whom  the 
great  trust  in  view  may  be  confided,  as  well  in  the  promotion  of 
a  sound  economy,  as  in  perfecting  the  detailed  operations  of  the 
Schools." 

Mr.  Bourne's  comment  on  the  situation  at  this  time  is  in- 
teresting. He  says : 

"  The  most  liberal  and  enlightened  friends  of  education  in  the  city  could 
not  remain  insensible  to  the  fact,  that  the  prejudices  which  had  been  aroused 
[against  the  Society]  could  not  be  overcome,  and  that,  however  perfect  a 
corporate  system  of  public  instruction  might  be  made,  were  its  resources 
sufficient,  the  day  had  passed  for  a  full  development  of  the  scheme  of  the 
Public  School  Society.  It  became  apparent  that  the  interests  of  public  educa- 
tion in  the  city  demanded  a  uniform  system,  under  the  care  of  one  Central 
Board,  which  should  combine,  if  possible,  a  conservative  character  with  that  of 
the  popular  prestige.  The  decision  of  this  proposition  left  no  alternative  — 
the  Public  School  Society  must  become  a  part  of  the  new  system,  and  sur- 
render its  independent  trust.  How  far  these  considerations  may  have  induced 
members  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  restrict  the  revenue  of  the  Society  in 
order  to  expedite  the  consummation,  is  a  fair  ground  of  conjecture,  and  is  left 
for  the  judgment  of  the  reader"  (pp.  578,  579). 

It  may  be  noted  that  in  their  last  report  the  Trustees  state 
that  their  schools,  "which  embrace  nearly  one-half  of  those 
under  common  school  instruction  in  this  city,  still  have  a 
register  and  average  attendance  equal  to  years  past,  and  are 
now  as  efficient  and  successful  in  their  operations,  as  at  any 


The  Two  Systems  Consolidated 


121 


period  since  the  passage  of  the  Act  in  1842,  establishing  the 
Ward  Schools."  1 

The  bill  agreed  upon  by  the  Public  School  Society  and  the 
Board  of  Education  gave  rise  to  considerable  controversy  in  the 
Legislature,  and  failed  of  passage  at  the  regular  session,  in  spite 
of  "  compromises  and  concessions "  made  "  by  all  parties,  in 
order  to  consummate  the  plan  of  union.  Its  failure  would  have 
resulted  in  a  loss  of  strength  on  the  part  of  the  Society  from 
the  fact  of  such  steps  having  been  taken,  and  a  virtual  surrender 
of  its  independence  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  dignity  and  im- 
munities of  an  establishment  of  high  character  would  have  been 
almost  inevitable.  It  would,  moreover,  have  placed  the  Board 
of  Education  in  a  position  of  delicacy  and  responsibility  which 
would  have  been  irksome  to  every  man  of  fine  feeling,  while  it 
would  have  given  the  antagonists  of  the  Society  a  position  of 
power  to  embarrass  it  which  would  have  been  full  of  unpleasant 
reminiscences."2  A  special  session  of  the  Legislature  was, 
however,  convened,  and  the  bill  became  a  law  June  4,  1853. 

The  law  provided  that  all  the  property  of  the  Public  School 
Society  should  be  turned  over  to  the  city  on  or  before  Septem- 
ber i,  1853,  that  the  Society  should  appoint  from  its  Trustees 

1  The  fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  for  the  year  1856, 
contained  a  table  showing  the  average  attendance  at  the  schools  of  the  city  for  each 
year  since  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Education,  from  which  the  following 
figures  are  taken  ;  they  indicate  the  rapid  advance  of  the  ward  schools  and  also  the 
comparative  stability  in  the  attendance  at  the  public  schools : 


YEAR 

WARD 
SCHOOLS 

PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 

YEAR 

WARD 
SCHOOLS 

PUBLIC 
SCHOOLS 

1842 

o 

15,420 

1848 

14,652 

18,587 

1843 

2,079 

15,938 

1849 

15,805 

18,153 

1844 

6,806 

15,978 

1850 

18,717 

19,292 

1845 

7,522 

16,602 

1851 

21,212 

i9»7J7 

1846 

8,793 

17,698 

1852 

23,273 

«9»3I5 

I847 

n,598 

18,646 

2  Bourne,  p.  583. 


122  The  New  York  Public  School 

fifteen  Commissioners  of  Common  Schools,  to  hold  office  until 
January  I,  1855,  and  also  from  its  Trustees  three  Trustees  of 
Common  Schools  "  for  each  ward  of  said  city  in  which  one 
or  more  of  the  schools  of  said  society  are  now  established,"  to 
serve  until  the  1st  of  January,  1855,  1856,  and  1857,  respec- 
tively ;  that  its  schools  should  be  merged  into  the  system  of  com- 
mon schools  established  by  law,  and  that  "the  common  schools 
in  the  city  "  should  ((  be  numbered  consecutively  by  the  Board 
of  Education." 

The  Society  decided  to  make  the  transfer  on  the  ist  of 
August.  At  a  meeting  held  on  the  ist  of  July  the  Commissioners 
and  Trustees  of  Common  Schools  provided  for  by  the  act  were 
elected.  The  final  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  was  held 
on  July  22d,  when,  after  transacting  the  business  incidental  to 
winding  up  its  affairs,  the  significant  entry  was  made  in  the 
minutes  that  the  Board  adjourned  "sine  die  and  forever." 

On  July  29th  the  last  meeting  of  the  Public  School  Society 
took  place,  and  the  Committee  on  Transfer  presented  its  final 
report.  The  sentiment  of  the  Society  on  surrendering  the 
privileges  which  it  had  so  long  enjoyed  may  be  accurately 
estimated  from  the  following  paragraph  in  the  report  of  the 
committee  : 

"  It  may  not  be  deemed  out  of  place  for  them  to  allude  to  the 
fact,  that  they  ha?e  acted  in  all  that  pertains  hereto  from  a  sense  of 
duty,  and  not  from  choice.  They  have  fully  felt  the  ungracious 
nature  of  the  task  allotted  to  them,  but  their  best  services  have 
been  held  hitherto  subject  to  the  behest  of  the  Public  School 
Society  in  its  days  of  noble  usefulness,  and  hence  it  was  not  for 
them  to  shrink,  when,  in  a  grave  posture  of  its  affairs,  it  has 
become  necessary  to  bring  its  concerns  to  a  close,  and  expunge 
its  name  from  among  active  and  benevolent  public  institutions."  J 

The  affairs  of  the  Society  had  always  been  very  systemati- 

1  The  committee  appointed  to  arrange  for  the  transfer  consisted  of  Linus  W. 
Stevens,  Chairman,  Joseph  Curtis,  William  P.  Cooledge,  John  Davenport,  and 
J.  W.  C.  Leveridge. 


The  Two  Systems  Consolidated  123 

cally  conducted,  and  on  turning  over  its  property  it  presented 
a  schedule  stating  the  value  in  detail,  with  exhibits,  inventories, 
etc.  The  figures  following  are  taken  from  the  report  of  the 
committee  mentioned : 

Value  of  real  estate $495,300.00 

Value  of  personal  property 109,520.46 

$604,820. 46 1 

But  upon  the  real  estate  were  mortgages  amounting  to  .  .  150,800.00 
Leaving  the  value  of  the  property  unencumbered  .  .  .  $  454,020.46 
To  which  should  be  added  the  balance  of  the  Treasurer's  account 

(cash  on  hand) 401.39 

Making  the  value  of  the  property  transferred  to  the  city  .         .     $454,421.85 

In  connection  with  the  estimate  placed  upon  the  Society's 
real  estate  in  the  schedule  just  quoted,  reference  may  be  made 
to  a  report  submitted  by  a  committee  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion November  15,  1848  (and  printed  in  the  forty-third  Annual 
Report  of  the  Society),  which  stated  that  the  total  value  of  "  the 
real  estate  held  in  fee  by  the  Society"  was  "about  $310,295," 
and  that  if  the  permanent  debt,  amounting  to  $120,800,  be 
deducted,  "  there  will  still  remain  property  at  the  disposal  of  the 
Society,  valued  at  $189,495,  which  it  may  either  mortgage  or 
sell,  under  certain  regulations,  when  it  shall  so  will  it."  This 
amount,  $189,495,  is  set  down  as  the  value  of  the  Society's 
property  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  Board  of  Education  for 
1849  (P-  ir)  and  1850  (p.  8).  In  contrast  with  this  estimate, 
and  with  the  amount  stated  in  the  report  of  the  committee  as 
given  above,  we  may  place  the  statement  in  Governor  Seward's 
message  for  1842  that  the  Society  "holds  in  fee  simple  the 
public  school  edifices,  valued  at  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  "  ! 

The  personal  property  mentioned  in  the  schedule  consisted 
of  furniture  ($75,264)  and  supplies  ($34,256.46).  The  value 
placed  upon  the  supplies  may  be  compared  with  the  figures 

1  The  detailed  schedule  will  be  found  on  pages  135-137  of  the  Annual  Report 
of  the  Board  of  Education  for  1853. 


124  The  New  York  Public  School 

contained  in  the  forty-sixth  Annual  Report  of  the  Society  (for 
1852): 

"  As  very  great  ignorance  exists  in  some  quarters  relative  to  the  personal 
property  held  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Public  School  Society,  the  Board  have 
deemed  it  proper  to  state,  that  the  whole  value  including  all  the  books,  slates, 
etc.,  in  daily  use  in  their  115  schools,  new  and  partly  worn,  as  well  as  that  in 
the  General  Depository,  does  not  exceed  $20,000  —  not  $200  for  each  school." 

The  reader  may  draw  his  own  inference. 

In  reference  to  the  property  transferred,  the  report  of  the 
committee  said :  "  The  striking  fact  that  the  Public  School 
Society  is  about  to  close  its  existence,  and  transfer  so  large 
an  amount  of  unencumbered  estate  to  the  city  of  New  York, 
excites  in  the  minds  of  the  committee  an  honest  exultation,  as 
it  must  in  those  of  all  the  well-wishers  of  the  Society ;  because 
upon  grave  occasions,  and  in  public  bodies,  those  who  should 
have  been  and  who  might  have  been  better  informed,  have 
declared  it  an  insolvent  and  rotten  concern,  which  was  seeking 
to  conceal  its  real  condition  by  urging  a  union  with  a  healthy 
and  living  institution.  This  calumny,  at  least,  is  now  forever 
silenced.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  added,  that,  in  its  dis- 
bursements of  public  money  to  the  amount  of  millions  of  dol- 
lars, the  first  instance  is  yet  to  be  shown  where  it  has  diverted 
a  single  dollar  from  its  legitimate  channel  of  service." 

The  committee  further  stated  in  its  report  that  there  was 
little  doubt  that  the  whole  number  of  children  educated  in  the 
schools  of  the  Society  from  its  organization,  in  1805,  was  six 
hundred  thousand,  and  called  special  attention  to  the  fact  that 
in  its  normal  schools  more  than  twelve  hundred  teachers  had 
been  trained. 

The  final  resolution  presented  by  the  committee,  and  adopted 
by  the  Society,  was  as  follows : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  books  of  minutes  of  the  Society,  of  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees, of  the  Executive  Committee,  and  of  other  standing  committees,  together 
with  all  the  reports,  documents,  and  treasurer's  vouchers,  and  a  copy  of  the 
inventory  of  personal  property,  &c.,  be  deposited  with  the  New  York  Histori- 
cal Society." 


The  Two  Systems  Consolidated  125 

This  behest  was  carried  out,  and  the  records  of  the  Public 
School  Society  are  now  in  the  building  of  the  Historical  Society, 
at  Second  avenue  and  Eleventh  street.  Unfortunately,  the 
first  book  of  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  cannot  be  found. 

Some  time  previously  the  Society  had  invited  the  Board  of 
Education  to  hold  its  meetings  in  Trustees'  Hall,  and  the  Board 
was  in  session  in  another  room  at  the  time  the  Society  was 
holding  its  closing  meeting,  which  was  ended  with  a  brief 
address  by  Vice-President  Peter  Cooper.  At  the  proper  time 
the  members  duly  elected  to  represent  the  Society  in  the  Board 
of  Education  were  welcomed  to  their  seats  in  that  Board,  and 
resolutions  were  adopted  as  follows  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Public  School  Society  is  entitled  to  the  lasting 
gratitude  of  the  people  of  this  city,  and  of  the  friends  of  education  generally, 
for  their  unremitted  and  successful  efforts,  continued  through  nearly  half  a 
century,  in  disseminating  the  blessings  of  education  and  virtue  among  thou- 
sands who  otherwise  would  have  been  allowed  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  and 
vice. 

"Resolved,  That  we  cordially  welcome  to  their  seats  in  this  Board, 
Thomas  B.  Stillman,  Linus  W.  Stevens,  Peter  Cooper,  William  H.  Neilson, 
John  T.  Adams,  Israel  Russell,  Joseph  B.  Collins,  John  Davenport,  James  F. 
De  Peyster.  Benjamin  R.  Winthrop,  Charles  E.  Pierson,  M.D.,  William  P. 
Cooledge,  Henry  H.  Barrow,  Joseph  Curtis,  and  John  W.  C.  Leveridge,  who 
have  been  so  selected  as  members  thereof,  and  that  we  rejoice  in  the  confident 
hope  that  the  cause  of  public  education  will  be  strengthened  by  the  union  now 
completed,  and  will  receive  at  their  hands  the  same  faithful,  intelligent,  and 
disinterested  service  which  it  has  hitherto  received  from  their  enlightened 
philanthropy  and  patriotism." 

The  adoption  of  these  resolutions,  with  appropriate  remarks 
from  old  and  new  members  of  the  Board,  completed  the  act  of 
transfer. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
GREAT  WORK   OF  THE  PUBLIC   SCHOOL  SOCIETY 

No  record  of  the  history  of  the  Public  School  Society  would 
be  complete  without  special  and  honorable  mention  of  the  very 
great  work  which  it  accomplished  for  the  city  during  a  period 
covering  forty-eight  years.  The  unselfishness  and  devotion  of 
its  Trustees  in  their  efforts  to  establish  a  general  system  of 
education,  after  they  had  grown  up  to  the  idea  of  free  public 
education  as  a  right,  from  the  wholly  different  idea  with  which 
they  started  in  1805,  have  few  parallels  in  the  records  of  philan- 
thropy. The  personal  attention  which  they  gave  to  the  schools 
under  their  care  was  extraordinary.  The  Annual  Report  for 
1840  contains  the  following  note:  "  During  the  past  year  11,844 
visits  have  been  made  by  the  Trustees  to  the  Public  and  Pri- 
mary Schools  under  their  care " ;  and  a  similar  note  in  the 
Report  for  the  following  year  states  the  number  of  visits  as 

I4JII2.1 

The  opinion  of  the  Board  of  Education  on  the  work  of  the 
Society  is  indicated  by  the  resolutions  quoted  in  the  preceding 
chapter  and  by  the  following  extract  from  the  Annual  Report 
for  1853  : 

"  Thus  by  voluntary  surrender  terminated  the  separate 
corporate  existence  of  a  Society  that,  during  nearly  half  a 
century  of  unremitted  and  unrequited  philanthropic  labor  in  the 
noblest  of  causes,  imposed  upon  this  city  a  debt  of  gratitude 
that  can  never  be  fitly  estimated,  much  less  repaid.  During 
that  period  it  has  conferred  the  blessing  of  instruction  on 

1  The  number  of  Trustees  in  these  years  was  eighty-seven  and  eighty-nine,  respec- 
tively, not  including  the  ex  officio  members  of  the  Board. 

126 


Great  Work  of  the  Public  School  Society       127 

600,000  children,  and  more  than  twelve  hundred  teachers.  So 
long  as  the  influence  of  those  children  and  their  teachers  shall 
be  felt,  —  and  when  will  it  cease  ?  —  so  long  shall  the  usefulness 
of  the  Public  School  Society  continue.  Its  inventories,  vouchers, 
documents  and  reports,  and  records  of  its  routine  of  business 
have  been  properly  deposited  with  the  New  York  Historical 
Society ;  but  history  can  never  tell  how  much  those  unostenta- 
tious details  have  contributed  to  the  safety,  prosperity  and 
glory  of  this  great  metropolitan  city"  (p.  41). 

That  these  sentiments  were  not  occasioned  by  the  union 
lately  consummated  is  plainly  seen  if  we  refer  to  the  first 
Annual  Report  made  by  the  Board  of  Education,  in  1843,  where 
this  statement  is  found : 

"  No  part  of  the  United  States  has  ever  enjoyed  in  greater 
perfection,  the  advantages  of  common  school  education,  than 
has  the  city  of  New  York.  Under  the  fostering  care  of  unob- 
trusive and  unostentatious  benevolence,  a  system  of  education 
has  been  maturing,  which  combines  the  advantages  of  voluntary 
association  with  those  of  public  supervision,  and  extends  the 
benefits  of  education  more  generally,  perfectly  and  economi- 
cally, than  any  other  known  system  in  the  world." 

The  historian  of  the  Public  School  Society,  William  Oland 
Bourne,  pays  the  following  tribute  to  the  devoted  men  who 
served  it  as  Trustees  : 

"  The  controlling  principle  in  the  minds  of  these  faithful 
officers,  next  to  a  sense  of  their  duty  as  '  men  who  must  give 
an  account,'  was  a  consciousness  that  they  were  invested  with 
a  grave  and  momentous  trust,  which  made  them  responsible 
to  their  fellow-citizens  for  the  performance  of  an  honorable 
stewardship.  The  men  who  composed  the  Society,  with  few,  if 
any,  exceptions,  were  not  those  who  would  abandon  their  post 
of  duty  for  trifling  considerations,  or  yield  passively  to  the 
storms  of  prejudice  or  of  opposition  which  might  be  raised 
around  them  for  the  overthrow  of  their  institution.  With  a 
high  appreciation  of  the  position  they  held  as  the  founders  of 


128  The  New  York  Public  School 

a  system  of  popular  instruction  designed  for  the  tens  of  thou- 
sands of  youth  of  a  great  metropolis,  their  endeavor  was,  with 
a  single  purpose,  to  extend,  advance,  and  ennoble  it  with  each 
passing  year,  in  the  hope  that  it  would  be  rendered  more 
massive  and  more  enduring  by  successive  labors,  until  it  should 
rest  upon  a  basis  as  broad  as  humanity  and  as  lasting  as  time  " 


Mr.  Bourne  says,  in  another  place,  that  the  Society  was 
"intimately  associated  with  the  advancement  of  all  the  great 
institutions  of  learning  and  of  benevolence  which  were  con- 
temporaneous with  its  own  existence,  not  less  than  of  the  city 
of1  which  it  was  an  ornament,  and  upon  which  it  conferred 
benefits  as  great  as  they  were  invaluable  and  enduring" 

(P-  599)- 

In  the  Introduction  to  his  comprehensive  History  of  the 
Society,  Mr.  Bourne  calls  attention  to  the  long  terms  of  service 
of  many  of  the  Trustees,  and  points  out  that  thirty  of  them 
"gave  seven  hundred  and  seventy-six  years  of  service  to  the 
public  schools,  being  an  average  of  nearly  twenty-five  years" 
while  "  twenty-five  other  gentlemen  served  an  average  of  fifteen 
years  "  (p.  xvi).  1 

1  Mr.  Bourne's  roll  of  honor  contains  the  following  names,  the  figures  indicating 
the  years  of  service  in  each  case  : 

Stephen  Allen       .......  28  Lewis  Halleck      .......  22 

Leonard  Bleecker      ......  25  Hiram  Ketchum    .......  26 

Micah  Baldwin     .......  1  8  Abraham  R.  Lawrence  .....  19 

James  B.  Brinsmade       .....  26  Lindley  Murray     .......  29 

De  Witt  Clinton   .......  23  Samuel  F.  Mott     .......  20 

Benjamin  Clark     .......  25  James  McBrair      .......  21 

Robert  C.  Cornell      ......  25  William  Mandeville  ......  18 

William  W.  Chester  ......  24  Charles  Oakley      .......  19 

Joseph  B.  Collins       ......  25  James  Palmer  ........  29 

Lyman  Cobb     ........  19  George  Pardow     .......  18 

James  F.  De  Peyster  ......  29  Samuel  W.  Seton   .  ......  29 

Mahlon  Day     ........  24  Najah  Taylor    ........  37 

John  Groshon,  Jr  .......  23  George  T.  Trimble     ......  35 

John  R.  Hurd  ........  32  Samuel  Wood  ........  20 

Timothy  Hedges  .......  25  A.  V.  Williams      .......  23 


Great  Work  of  the  Public  School  Society       129 

Mr.  Boese,  in  his  History,  sums  up  the  work  of  the  Public 
School  Society  in  these  words : 

"  When  we  reflect  upon  the  amount  of  labor  which  nearly 
half  a  century  of  vigilance  and  activity  involved,  the  skill  and 
prudence  with  which  they  conducted  an  enterprise  involving 
questions  of  such  magnitude,  responsibility,  and  delicacy  —  the 
valuable  time  given  through  so  long  a  series  of  years  by  men 
whose  business  relations  made  time  precious,  with  no  recom- 
pense other  than  the  consciousness  of  duty  performed,  and  the 
gratifying  evidences  that  their  labor  was  not  in  vain  —  when  we 
remember  that  millions  of  the  public  money  passed  through 
their  hands,  and  not  one  dollar  had  ever  been  diverted  from  its 
legitimate  service,  and  that  at  the  close  of  their  long  service, 
and  notwithstanding  their  embarrassments,  they  transferred  to 
the  control  of  the  Board  of  Education  property  valued  at  over 
$600,000,  and  which,  when  every  liability  was  discharged,  still 
amounted  to  nearly  half  a  million  —  when  we  consider  that 
through  their  instrumentality  not  less  than  600,000  youth  had 
been  instructed,  and  over  one  thousand  two  hundred  teachers 
educated  and  trained  to  service,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  every 
friend  of  popular  instruction  and  every  lover  of  his  race 
must  hold  this  remarkable  Society  in  grateful  remembrance  " 
(pp.  82,  83). 

"We  cannot,"  says  Mr.  Randall,  "take  leave  of  this  Society, 
which  had  thus  for  nearly  half  a  century  assumed  the  charge 
of  the  free  education  of  the  children  of  the  city,  the  members 
of  which,  consisting  of  men  of  the  highest  character  and  stand- 
ing in  the  community,  had  for  that  long  period  gratuitously 
devoted  their  time  and  services  to  the  promotion  and  advance- 
ment of  popular  education,  without  the  tribute  of  our  highest 
regard  and  esteem  for  their  disinterested  exertions,  and  the  in- 
calculable amount  of  good  which  their  untiring  zeal  and  devotion 
were  enabled  to  accomplish  in  behalf  of  the  rising  generation." 1 

These  tributes  to  the  Public  School  Society  may  be  brought 

1  History  of  the  Common  School  System  of  the  State  of  New  York,  p.  313. 


130  The  New  York  Public  School 

to  a  fitting  close  with  an  extract  from  an  address  made  in  1890 
by  the  Hon.  Andrew  S.  Draper,  then  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction  for  the  State  of  New  York,  and  now  the  New  York 
State  Commissioner  of  Education  : 

"Even  the  briefest  narration  of  the  development  of  the 
State  school  system  would  be  unfaithful  which  failed  to  make 
mention  of  a  great  organization  known  as  the  '  Public  School 
Society  of  the  City  of  New  York.'  It  was  chartered  by  the 
Legislature  in  1805,  and  was  composed  of  the  foremost  citizens 
of  the  metropolis.  Its  object,  as  stated  in  its  charter,  was  to 
establish  '  a  free  school  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  educa- 
tion of  such  poor  children  as  do  not  belong  to  or  are  not  pro- 
vided for  by  any  religious  society.'  This  illustrates  the  prevailing 
sentiment  of  the  time  concerning  the  relation  which  society 
should  sustain  to  common  education  better  than  any  language 
of  mine  can  do  it.  In  acting  up  to  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and 
in  carrying  out  the  beneficent  objects  for  which  it  was  created, 
this  society  won  the  gratitude  of  the  ages.  It  received  public 
and  private  contributions  and  tuition  fees  for  the  support  of  its 
work,  it  controlled  all  the  public  schools  in  the  city  for  nearly 
fifty  years,  and  exerted  a  strong  influence  upon  the  educational 
opinion  of  the  country.  At  its  dissolution  in  1853  it  had  super- 
vised the  instruction  of  600,000  children,  and  it  turned  over 
to  the  Board  of  Education  of  the  city  of  New  York  property 
worth  more  than  $450,000."  1 

The  citations  given  leave  little  to  be  added  in  regard  to  the 
work  of  this  unique  Society.  That  work  certainly  has  had  no 
parallel  in  any  other  city  in  this  country.  Too  high  praise  can- 
not be  given  to  the  noble  men  who  founded  the  Society,  watched 
its  expansion,  and  scrutinized  its  work  so  carefully.  Their 
service  to  the  public  was  of  the  kind  that  cannot  be  purchased. 
As  Mr.  Bourne  well  says,  they  were  a  "rare  collection  of  men 
distinguished  alike  for  their  moral  and  intellectual  character, 
their  philanthropy,  their  positions  as  business  and  professional 

1  Origin  and  Development  of  the  New  York  Common  School  System. 


Great  Work  of  the  Public  School  Society       131 

men,  and  the  stations  which  some  of  them  have  held  in  the 
State"  (Introduction,  p.  xvii).  As  nearly  as  maybe,  they  were 
without  bias,  political  or  religious,  and  were  uninfluenced  by 
partisan  considerations  of  any  kind.  While  religious  men  and 
firm  believers  in  moral  and  religious  training,  they  strove  dili- 
gently to  keep  their  schools  free  from  sectarianism  and  accessible 
to  children  of  all  faiths. 

Great  and  zealous  as  was  the  work  of  the  Society  during 
its  existence  of  nearly  half  a  century,  however,,  the  impartial 
student  of  local  history  cannot  deem  its  dissolution  a  calamity 
to  the  city.  In  a  sense,  it  had  outlived  its  usefulness.  At  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  the  time  had  come  for  the  people  to 
take  into  their  own  hands  the  important  matter  of  common  school 
education.  Although  the  members  of  the  Society  surrendered 
reluctantly,  they  recognized  the  force  of  public  sentiment,  and 
saw  that  it  was  useless  to  continue  the  struggle  longer  against 
hopeless  odds.  Had  the  union  effected  in  1853  been  postponed 
a  few  years,  the  Society,  with  its  restricted  resources,  its  burden 
of  debt,  its  more  or  less  dilapidated  buildings,  and  its  outgrown 
system  of  instruction,  would  inevitably  have  declined  in  influ- 
ence and  prestige.  As  it  was,  fairly  satisfactory  terms  were 
made,  and  a  large  group  of  experienced  and  influential  men 
became  members  of  the  Board  of  Education  and  were  able  to 
exert  a  commanding  influence  in  the  councils  of  that  body  for 
several  years. 


CHAPTER  XVII 
FIRST  DECADE   OF   THE   BOARD  OF   EDUCATION 

As  has  already  been  stated  (see  Chapter  XIV),  the  Board 
of  Education  was  not  able  to  open  any  schools  during  the 
first  year  of  its  existence.  After  that,  owing  to  greatly  needed 
amendments  in  the  law  and  to  other  circumstances,  its  growth 
and  development  were  rapid,  so  that  by  1851  the  attendance  at 
its  schools  was  larger  than  that  at  the  schools  of  the  Public 
School  Society.  The  law  of  1842,  creating  the  Board,  was  so 
defective  that  it  gave  the  Board  of  Education  no  control  over 
the  amount  or  object  for  which  any  expenditure  might  be  made, 
and  there  was  no  provision  which  placed  money  when  raised  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Board.  The  first  Annual  Report  (adopted 
May  30,  1843)  contains  this  pathetic  statement:  "The  board 
have  therefore  not  applied  any  funds  to  erect,  purchase,  or  lease 
school  houses,  or  to  procure  the  sites  therefor,  or  the  fitting  up 
thereof,  simply  because  no  funds  have  come  into  their  hands 
for  that  purpose."  Oddly  enough,  the  funds  for  opening  the 
first  of  the  district  schools  (as  they  were  originally  called)  were 
provided  from  private  sources. 

"  Impatient  of  the  delays  that  have  intervened  since  the  enactment  of  the 
new  law,  a  public  spirited  gentleman,  with  a  few  associates  in  the  Twelfth 
Ward,  has  determined  to  assume  the  pecuniary  responsibility  of  opening  a 
school  forthwith,  on  the  Third  Avenue,  near  the  intersection  of  Forty-ninth 
Street.  The  necessity  of  having  a  school  opened  in  that  neighborhood  has 
been  admitted,  and  the  undertaking  sanctioned  by  the  Trustees  and  Commis- 
sioners of  that  Ward.  It  is  believed  that  there  are  nearly  three  hundred 
children  in  that  neighborhood  unprovided  with  a  school.  Trusting  for  reim- 
bursement from  the  school  revenues  to  accrue  in  May  next,  the  gentlemen 

132 


EARLY   PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION 
1.  George  W.  Strong.  3.  William  E.  Curtis.  5.  Townsend  Harris. 


2.  Thomas  Jeremiah. 


4.  Robert  Kelly. 


6.  Erastus  C.  Benedict. 


First  Decade  of  the  Board  of  Education        133 


before  referred  to,  with  the  sanction  of  the  Trustees  and  Commissioners  of  the 
Ward,  have  taken  the  best  building  to  be  found  in  the  neighborhood  for  a 
school  house,  and  a  carpenter  is  now  preparing  the  necessary  fixtures.  Teach- 
ers of  excellent  character  and  qualifications  have  been  engaged  and  licensed ; 
and  it  is  intended  to  open  the  school  on  Monday  of  the  ensuing  week.  The 
house,  however,  is  not  by  far  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  children 
now  waiting  for  admission ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  a  new  edifice,  constructed 
expressly  for  school  purposes,  will  be  erected  without  unnecessary  delay."  l 

The  first  Annual  Report  showed  five  district  schools,  one 
district  primary  school,  and  one  district  colored  school.  The 
expansion  of  the  system  during  the  next  few  years  may  be  seen 
from  the  following  tabular  statement : 


YEAR 

SCHOOLS 
FOR  BOYS 

WARD 
SCHOOLS 

SCHOOLS 
FOR  GIRLS 

PRIMARY 
DEPTS. 

PRIMARY 
SCHOOLS 

COLORED 
SCHOOLS 

1844 

II 

14 

2 

3 

I 

1845 

13 

16 

10 

2 

I 

1846 

13 

17 

II 

2 

I 

1847 

13 

17 

12 

2 

I 

1848 

47 

2 

2 

1849 

59 

3 

2 

1850 

65 

2 

2 

1851 

7i 

2 

2 

1852 

75 

2 

3 

The  Annual  Report  for  1849  stated  the  cost  of  the  buildings 
and  lots  occupied  by  the  ward  schools  as  $337,010.52. 

According  to  the  same  report,  the  cost  of  supporting  the 
common  schools  of  the  city,  including  the  schools  of  the  Public 
School  Society  and  the  corporate  schools,  but  not  including  the 

1  Report  of  William  L.  Stone,  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  to 
the  Board  of  Education,  January  9,  1843.  A  building  for  Ward  School  No.  I  was 
erected  in  1844  at  Lexington  avenue  and  Fifty-first  street,  on  land  granted  by  the 
Corporation.  A  new  building,  in  Fifty-first  street,  between  Lexington  and  Fourth 
avenues,  was  built  in  1855  ;  it  was  extensively  altered  and  repaired  in  1866,  and 
wings  were  added  in  1892.  Since  1853  this  school  has  borne  the  number  18. 


134  The  New  York  Public  School 

amount  expended  for  new  school  buildings,  for  the  years  given 
below,  was  as  follows  : 

Year  ending  May  i,  1843 $129,809.42 

Year  ending  May  i,  1844 185,420.00 

Year  ending  May  i,  1845 200,973.66 

Year  ending  May  i,  1846 189,107.17 

Year  ending  May  i,  1847  ••••••••  194,034.17 

Year  ending  May  i,  1848 211,802.94 

Year  ending  May  i,  1849 230,585.74 

The  character  of  the  buildings  erected  by  the  Board  of 
Education  improved  as  time  went  on.  Mr.  Boese  states  that 
"in  1849,  three  additional  school  buildings  were  opened,  and  at 
the  same  time  introduced  a  new  order  of  school  structures. 
They  were  of  much  greater  size,  so  that  nearly  two  thousand 
children  could  be  accommodated  in  a  single  building,  while 
their  attractive  and  conspicuous  appearance  at  once  arrested  the 
attention  of  the  passer-by  "  (p.  76). 

In  an  address  to  the  Board  of  Education  on  June  16,  1851, 
Mr.  E.  C.  Benedict,  the  President,  said :  "  The  effect  of  the 
opposition  which  the  present  school  system  encountered,  when 
first  adopted,  was  to  induce  the  Ward  Officers  of  that  period  to 
adopt  the  course  which  had  been  previously  pursued  by  those 
having  charge  of  the  Public  Schools,  of  placing  the  schools  in 
neighborhoods  where  various  circumstances  combined  to  make 
land  cheap  and  to  cause  it  to  be  occupied  by  large  numbers  of 
the  poorer  citizens.  The  schools  were  considered  as  schools 
for  the  poor,  and  the  whole  system  was  looked  upon  as  a  sort 
of  public  charity.  The  Commissioners  and  Inspectors  had  no 
experience  in  building  school  houses  and  no  examples  but  those 
of  the  Public  School  Society,  which  had  been  located  and  con- 
structed under  similar  influences.  The  result  could  not  fail  to 
be  as  it  has  been.  Many  of  the  earlier  schools  were  placed  in 
unwholesome  or  otherwise  disagreeable  situations  —  the  build- 
ings were  ill-contrived,  badly  ventilated  and  over  crowded.  The 
power  to  discontinue  such  schools,  now  that  better  notions  on 


First  Decade  of  the  Board  of  Education        135 

the  subject  prevail,  is  an  important  power,  which  is  by  this  Act 
[the  law  passed  July  3,  1851]  first  created,  specifically,  and 
regulated." 

Some  years  prior  to  the  absorption  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  the  Board  of  Education  had  taken  two  very  important 
steps  in  the  expansion  of  its  work.  One  was  the  establishment 
of  evening  schools ;  the  other  was  the  foundation  of  the  Free 
Academy. 

It  has  already  been  told  (see  Chapter  XI),  how  the  Public 
School  Society  in  the  fourth  decade  of  the  century  felt  the  im~ 
portance  of  evening  schools  for  the  benefit  of  apprentices  and 
others  unable  to  attend  day  schools,  and  how  the  experiment 
made  in  1833,  and  for  a  few  years  following,  failed  because  of 
the  attempt  to  require  the  regular  teachers  to  give  instruction 
in  the  evening  schools  without  additional  compensation.  The 
Board  of  Education  was  wise  enough  to  avoid  that  mistake.,  and, 
indeed,  did  not  enter  on  this  work  until  specially  empowered  by 
law  to  do  so.  The  Board  had  not  been  in  existence  long  before 
the  necessity  of  evening  schools  was  impressed  upon  the  minds 
of  its  members.  In  June,  1846,  resolutions  were  adopted  call- 
ing upon  the  County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  William  A. 
Walker,  for  his  views  on  the  propriety,  practicability,  and  utility 
of  establishing  such  schools,  and  in  July  a  favorable  report  was 
presented  by  him.  In  January  following  a  select  committee, 
consisting  of  Edward  B.  Fellows,  John  L.  Mason,  James  W. 
Bleecker,  and  George  Paulding,  submitted  a  unanimous  report 
in  favor  of  such  schools,  and  recommended  the  enactment  of  a 
law  to  provide  for  their  establishment  and  support. 

An  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  in  that  year  (1847), 
authorizing  the  expenditure  of  $6000  per  annum  for  the  purpose. 
In  November,  1847,  six  schools  were  opened  for  a  term  of 
seventeen  weeks.  Unlike  the  ward  schools,  which  were  under 
the  control  of  the  ward  Trustees,  the  evening  schools  were 
placed  in  charge  of  a  standing  committee  of  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. The  result  of  the  new  departure  was  most  gratifying 


136  The  New  York  Public  School 

to  all  interested.  The  number  of  pupils  registered  was  3224, 
and  the  average  attendance  1224.  Admission  was  refused  to 
hundreds.  Thirty-one  teachers  were  employed,  and  the  total  ex- 
pense amounted  to  $6089.46,  a  sum,  according  to  the  first  report 
of  the  Committee  on  Evening  Schools,  "  truly  insignificant  when 
compared  with  the  great  good  that  has  been  accomplished." 

It  is  significant  that  the  first  set  of  rules  and  regulations 
adopted  for  these  schools  contained  a  provision  that  "  no  cor- 
poreal (sic)  punishment  shall  be  allowed  in  any  of  the  evening 
schools."  The  rules  also  provided  that  the  salary  of  a  principal 
teacher  should  be  $175  per  term,  and  that  of  an  assistant  from 
$80  to  $125. 

The  first  evening  schools  were  for  men  and  boys  only,  but, 
at  the  solicitation  of  the  Board  of  Education,  a  law  was  enacted  in 
1848  authorizing  schools  for  women  and  girls  and  increasing  the 
expenditure  to  $15,000.  The  report  of  the  committee  in  charge 
for  1849  showed  fifteen  schools  in  existence  (eleven  for  men  and 
boys  and  four  for  women  and  girls),  attended  by  6976  pupils  and 
employing  seventy-two  teachers,  the  cost  being  $14,289.78. 
f  The  establishment  of  the  Free  Academy  was  the  first 
movement  in  New  York  toward  supplying  secondary  education. 
The  genesis  of  this  institution,  which  will  form  the  subject  of  a 
later  chapter,  cannot  be  better  told  than  in  the  language  of  the 
fifteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  : 

"  The  germ  of  its  existence  was  the  appointment  of  a  com- 
mittee by  the  Board  of  Education  to  inquire  into  the  expediency 
of  applying  to  the  Legislature  '  for  the  passage  of  a  law  author- 
izing the  establishment  of  a  High  School  or  College  for  the 
benefit  of  pupils  who  have  been  educated  in  the  Public  Schools 
of  the  city  and  county.'  On  the  2Oth  of  January,  1847,  the 
majority  of  the  committee  presented  a  report,  in  which  they 
'recommend  that  the  Board  should  take  the  necessary  steps 
to  establish  a  Free  College  or  Academy/  and  provide  for  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  draft  a  memorial  to  the  Legis- 
lature in  accordance  therewith.  This  report  was  adopted,  and 


First  Decade  of  the  Board  of  Education        137 

the  committee  thereupon  appointed,  presented  a  memorial, 
which  was  approved  by  the  Board,  and  forwarded  in  its  name  to 
the  Legislature.  This  memorial  states  that  '  one  object  of  the 
proposed  free  institution,  is  to  create  an  additional  interest  in, 
and  more  completely  popularize  the  common  schools.  It  is 
believed  that  they  will  be  regarded  with  additional  favor  and 
attended  with  increased  satisfaction,  when  the  pupils  and  their 
parents  feel  that  the  children  who  have  received  their  primary 
education  in  these  schools  can  be  admitted  to  all  the  benefits 
and  advantages  furnished  by  the  best  endowed  college  in  the 
State,  without  any  expense  whatever.'  'The  Legislature  re- 
sponded to  this  memorial  by  the  passage  of  a  law  authorizing 
the  Free  Academy,  giving  the  Board  of  Education  absolute 
power  'to  direct  the  course  of  studies  therein,'  and  providing 
that  the  question  of  establishing  the  same  should  be  submitted 
to  the  vote  of  the  people.  The  question  was  so  submitted,  and 
the  result  was  19,404  in  favor  of  the  Free.  Academy  to  3409 
against  it"  (pp.  71,  72). 

The  Free  Academy  was  opened  on  January  27,  1849.  ^-n 
1866  it  became  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and 
passed  under  the  control  of  a  Board  of  Trustees  consisting  of 
the  members  of  the  Board  of  Education  and  the  President  of 
the  institution.  In  1900  a  Board  of  Trustees  separate  from  the 
Board  of  Education  was  appointed  for  it,  the  President  of  the 
latter  Board  being  ex  officio  a  trustee  of  the  College. 

"  The  anticipated  influence  of  the  new  institution  was  fully 
realized.  Thousands  who  had  heretofore  held  aloof  from  all 
public  schools  now  sent  their  children,  and,  in  consequence, 
took  direct  and  active  interest  in  school  affairs,  and  in  the 
selection  of  proper  parties  for  their  management."1 

The  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  salaries  paid  to  teachers  and 
the  prices  paid  for  supplies  was  greatly  deplored  by  the  Board 
of  Education  in  its  earlier  years.  The  Annual  Report  for  1850 
(p.  19)  commented  on  the  "  eighteen  distinct  organizations,  con- 

1  Boese,  p.  75. 


138  The  New  York  Public  School 

sisting  of  the  trustees  of  the  several  Wards,"  which  had  "  full 
power  to  employ  teachers,  select  and  purchase  books,  and  to 
furnish  supplies  for  the  Ward  Schools  of  their  respective 
Wards,"  and  regretted  that  under  conditions  as  they  existed  the 
officials  in  one  ward  were  unable  to  benefit  by  the  experience 
of  others.  A  "  wise  uniformity  "  in  the  matter  of  supplies  was 
suggested  as  a  means  of  reducing  expenses.  Reference  was 
also  made  to  the  disproportion  in  salaries,  and  it  was  pointed 
out  that  the  lowest  average  cost  per  scholar  in  any  ward  on 
account  of  teachers'  salaries  alone  was  $4.00  and  the  highest 
$7.15.  The  salary  problem  proved  the  more  difficult,  and  was 
not  solved  for  many  years.  In  the  matter  of  supplies,  however, 
the  Board  wisely  followed  the  plan  worked  out  by  the  Public 
School  Society  as  the  result  of  long  experience.  In  the  ward 
schools  all  books  and  other  supplies  were  furnished  to  the  pupils 
without  cost,  as  had  been  done  by  the  Society  from  the  beginning, 
but  the  result  of  buying  them  by  officials  in  the  several  wards 
was  soon  seen  to  be  wasteful  and  extravagant.  A  strong  report 
in  favor  of  a  uniform  system  was  presented  by  the  Committee 
on  Supplies  in  December,  1851,  and  in  May,  1852,  the  new 
system  was  adopted. 

"  The  Society  had  great  advantages  in  the  economy  of  supplies,  as  all  were 
purchased  by  a  special  committee,  and  upon  requisition  made  at  the  general 
Depository,  distributed  at  stated  times,  and  under  stringent  regulations,  to  the 
several  departments.  The  same  system  was  now  [after  the  union  effected  in 
1853]  made  general.  The  old  Depository  in  the  Trustees'  Hall,  now  the  Hall 
of  the  Board,  was  enlarged  and  stocked,  pass-books  for  the  monthly  requisitions 
furnished,  each  order  to  be  signed  by  the  principal  of  the  department,  and 
approved  by  the  proper  ward  officers,  and  an  exact  account  kept  of  the 
supplies  furnished,  and  the  cost  thereof  to  each  school  —  the  amount  to  be 
limited  by  a  '  tariff  of  supplies '  annually  furnished  as  a  part  of  the  by-laws, 
and  based  upon  the  annual  average  attendance  and  the  general  experience  as 
to  the  quantity  of  each  of  the  several  articles  required.  The  order  being  sent  to 
the  Depository-clerk,  the  supplies  were  delivered  at  the  several  schools  on  a  day 
fixed  in  the  by-laws,  the  city  being  divided  into  convenient  districts  for  the 
purpose." 1 

1  Boese,  p.  86. 


First  Decade  of  tJie  Board  of  Education        1 39 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION— 1842  TO  1853 

President 

George  W.  Strong  *  ....  1842,1843 
Thomas  Jeremiah 1  ....  1843,1844 
Gerardus  Clark  *  ....  1844,1845 
Isaac  A.  Johnson  *  ....  1845,1846 
Townsend  Harris  *  ....  1846,1847 

Robert  Kelly1 1848-1850 

Erastus  C.  Benedict x .        .        .        .     1850-1853 

Clerk 

John  A.  Stewart         ....     1842-1850  (to  March  2oth) 
Edward  B.  Fellows  1  .         .         .         .     1850  (from  March  3oth  to  June  1 9th) 
Albert  Gilbert ! 1850  (from  June  19^-1853 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 
Joseph  McKeen,1       ....     1851-1853 

1  Deceased. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
BOARD   OF  EDUCATION  — 1853   TO   1860 

THE  Public  School  Society  turned  over  to  the  Board  of 
Education  at  the  union  consummated  on  August  i,  1853,  seven- 
teen public  school  buildings  (No.  10  had  been  sold  a  few  weeks 
before  the  union,  owing  to  the  proposed  widening  of  Duane 
street,  changes  in  the  neighborhood,  and  the  erection  of  a  large 
ward  school  in  the  vicinity1)  and  fifty-three  primary  schools 
(many  of  them  in  leased  rooms),  besides  two  public  schools  and 
three  primary  schools  for  colored  children.  The  law  establish- 
ing the  Board  of  Education,  as  amended  soon  after  1842,  pro- 
vided that  the  schools  of  the  Board  should  be  "numbered 
consecutively,  according  to  the  time  of  their  organization." 
The  act  of  June  4,  1853,  prescribed  that,  after  the  dissolution 
of  the  Public  School  Society,  "  then  and  from  thenceforth  the 
common  schools  in  the  city  of  New  York  shall  be  numbered 
consecutively  by  the  Board  of  .Education."  It  has  already 
appeared  that  the  schools  of  the  Society  were  designated  by 
numbers  from  the  beginning.  These  schools  were  allowed  to 
retain  their  original  numbers,  thus  maintaining  their  identity 
and  preserving  historic  continuity,  except  as  a  change  was  nec- 
essary on  account  of  the  dropping  out  of  No.  10;  and  the 
schools  established  by  the  Board,  both  ward  and  primary,  were 
renumbered  accordingly,  the  new  numbers  following  those  of 
the  public  .schools  consecutively.  The  primary  schools  of  the 

1  This  building  would  not  have  been  sold  if  the  bill  providing  for  the  dissolution 
of  the  Society  had  been  passed  at  the  regular  session  of  the  Legislature.  (See  Bourne, 
pp.  575  and  702.)  The  school  was  closed  on  the  3Oth  of  June,  1853. 

140 


Board  of  Education  —  /^5J  to  1860  141 

city  were  numbered  separately  until  1897.  The  system  of  desig- 
nating the  schools  of  New  York  by  numbers,  besides  having 
the  sanction  of  a  century's  use,  has  the  great  merit  of  conven- 
ience, and  is  comparable  in  this  respect  with  the  scheme  of 
numerically  designated  streets. 

Henceforth  the  schools  of  the  Public  School  Society  were 
designated  as  ward  schools.  Most  of  the  schools,  both  public 
and  ward,  consisted  of  three  departments,  so  that  the  total  num- 
ber of  schools  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board  of  Education 
at  the  time  it  assumed  complete  control  of  common  school  edu- 
cation in  the  city  was  214,  not  including  ten  so-called  corporate 
schools,  which  were  entitled  to  share  in  the  school  moneys. 
The  corporate  schools  were :  New  York  Orphan  Asylum,  Ro- 
man Catholic  Orphan  Asylum,  Roman  Catholic  Half-Orphan 
Asylum,  Protestant  Half-Orphan  Asylum,  Mechanics'  Society 
School,  Society  for  Reformation  of  Juvenile  Delinquents,  Ham- 
ilton Free  School,  Leake  and  Watts  Orphan  House,  American 
Female  Guardian  Society,  New  York  Juvenile  Asylum,  and 
Colored  Orphan  Asylum.  Twenty-one  of  the  214  schools  were 
specially  devoted  to  colored  children,  and  separate  schools1 
for  such  children  were  maintained  in  the  city  until  1884  (see 
Chapter  XXI). 

The  Board  of  Education  now  consisted  of  two  Commis- 
sioners for  each  of  the  twenty-two  wards2  and  the  fifteen  repre- 
sentatives of  the  Public  School  Society,  making  fifty-nine  in  all. 
The  members  selected  by  the  Society  remained  in  office  until 
January  i,  1855,  and  for  ten  years  thereafter  the  Board  consisted 
of  forty-four  members. 

The  total  amount  raised  by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  for 
school  purposes  for  the  year  1853  was  $288,764.66,  and  the 

1  All  the  laws  relating  to  public  education  in  New  York,  up  to  the  time  of  the 
enactment  of  the  Revised  Charter,  in  1901,  required  special  mention  to  be  made  of 
schools  for  colored  children  in  the  reports  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

2  The  Eighteenth   Ward  was  erected   in    1846,  the  Nineteenth   in    1850,  the 
Twentieth  in  1851,  and  the  Twenty-first  and  Twenty-second  in  1853. 


142  The  New  York  Public  School 

whole  amount  drawn  for  educational  purposes,  including  the 
erection  of  buildings,  was  $513,902.17.  The  whole  number  of 
pupils  taught  (corporate  schools  not  included)  was  119,059,  and 
the  average  attendance,  41,061.  If  we  count  in  the  corporate 
schools,  the  figures  were  123,530  and  43,740,  respectively.  The 
amount  expended  during  the  year  for  current  expenses,  includ- 
ing instruction,  books,  stationery  and  other  supplies,  repairs, 
janitors'  salaries,  and  all  other  expenses,  except  sites  and  new 
buildings,  was  $381,327.07,  or  $3.08  per  pupil,  on  the  basis  of 
total  attendance.1  On  the  basis  of  average  attendance  for  a 
period  of  forty-six  weeks,  the  cost  per  capita  was  $8.68.  Dur- 
ing the  year  twenty-five  evening  schools  were  in  operation,  the 
registration  being  9313  and  the  average  attendance  3319;  the 
cost  was  $17,563.77.  In  1853  male  principals  of  evening  schools 
received  $ 1 80,  female  principals  $135,  and  teachers  from  $70  to 
$130  for  the  season. 

Mention  must  also  be  made  of  the  normal  schools,  which 
had  been  established,  as  heretofore  narrated,  by  the  Public 
School  Society,  and  now  passed  over  to  the  Board  of  Education. 
There  were  three  of  these,  known  as  the  Male  Normal  School, 
the  Female  Normal  School,  and  the  Colored  Normal  School. 
All  held  their  sessions  at  the  Hall  of  the  Board,  the  school  for 
men  teachers  in  the  evening  (ten  hours  per  week),  and  that  for 
women  on  Saturday  (five  hours  per  week).  Under  the  Society, 
these  schools  had  been  open  to  the  teachers  of  the  ward 
schools,  but  comparatively  few  availed  themselves  of  the  oppor- 
tunity of  attending,  whereas  all  the  junior  teachers  in  the 
Society's  schools  had  been  required  to  attend  or  forfeit  their 
positions. 

The  Board  of  Education  placed  these  schools  in  charge  of  an 
able  Executive  Committee  on  Normal  Schools,  which  included 
two  former  Trustees  of  the  Society  (who  had  served  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Society's  Committee  on  Normal  Schools),  and  the 

1  So  on  p.  26,  Annual  Report,  1853.  Somewhat  different  figures  are  to  be  found 
on  p.  87. 


Board  of  Education  — 1$53  to  1860  143 

new  Committee  was  earnestly  supported  by  the  Board  in  the 
measures  which  it  suggested,  requiring  the  attendance  of  all 
teachers  below  the  grade  of  principal,  unless  duly  excused. 
The  Annual  Report  for  the  year  under  review  speaks  of  the 
normal  school  established  by  the  Public  School  Society  as  "  more 
properly,  a  training  school  for  those  actually  occupied  in  teach- 
ing "  ;  and  the  first  report  of  the  Executive  Committee  contained 
the  following :  "  The  Normal  Schools  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion are  in  their  character  different  from  most  other  normal 
institutions  known  to  the  Committee.  They  are  more  practical 
in  their  nature  for  the  reason  that  the  pupils  are  teachers  in 
fact  and  are  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  art  of  teaching  from 
the  pursuit  of  that  business  which  they  have  actually  entered 
upon  as  the  profession  of  their  choice,  and  from  which  they  are 
obtaining  their  support." 

"Another  important  measure,"  says  Mr.  Boes6,  "was  the 
enlargement  of  the  Normal  School  accommodations  and  the 
passage  of  by-laws  establishing  a  Normal  School  Committee, 
and  enforcing  the  attendance  of  teachers  under  conditions  analo- 
gous, as  far  as  the  difference  of  circumstance  would  admit,  to 
those  which  had  previously  applied  to  the  Public  Schools  only. 
Provision  was  also  made  for  an  annual  graduation  of  qualified 
pupils,  based  upon  an  examination  of  the  school,  conducted  by 
the  City  Superintendent  and  under  the  supervision  of  the  com- 
mittee. The  attendance  soon  rose  in  the  Female  Saturday 
Normal  School  from  about  two  hundred  to  nearly  six  hundred, 
the  Male  Normal  School  and  the  School  for  Colored  Teachers 
receiving  proportionate  accessions.  The  term  normal,  which 
early  attached  to  these  institutions,  was  not  well  chosen,  as  no 
normal  instruction  was  given.  They  were  really  supplementary 
schools  for  teachers  who  did  not  hold  the  highest  grade  of 
certificates  as  to  scholarship  "  (p.  87). 

Fourteen  teachers  were  employed  in  the  normal  schools. 
A  Daily  Normal  School  was  established  in  the  early  part  of 
1856,  and  was  continued  until  February,  1859. 


144  The  New  York  Public  School 

The  highest  salary  paid  to  the  principal  of  a  boys'  department 1 
was  $1500,  and  the  lowest  $600;  the  salaries  of  principals  of 
girls'  departments  ranged  from  $800  (in  a  single  instance)  to 
$300;  in  the  primary  departments  from  $500  to  $250;  in  the 
primary  schools  from  $400  to  $200.  Many  teachers  received 
no  more  than  $100,  and  in  the  primary  schools  salaries  as  low 
as  $75  and  $50  per  annum  were  paid.  There  was  no  established 
tenure  of  office  for  teachers,  they  being  "  subject  to  the  caprice 
of  those  who  have  power  to  remove  them  "  (i.e.,  the  ward  Trus- 
tees), to  quote  from  an  address  of  President  Benedict  to  the 
Board  of  Education  on  June  16,  1851.  Mr.  Benedict  added: 

"  On  a  change  of  Ward  Officers,  all  the  Teachers  in  a  school  have  been 
dismissed  together,  with  certificates  of  good  character  and  conduct !  While 
there  should  be  a  proper  power  to  remove  Teachers,  it  is  very  desirable  that 
Teachers  should  have  that  reasonable  security  which  shall  induce  them  to 
adopt  teaching  as  a  profession,  in  which  ability  and  zeal  shall  be  sure  of 
success." 

The  law  enacted  July  3,  1851,  entitled  "An  Act  to  amend, 
consolidate,  and  reduce  to  one  act,  the  various  acts  relative  to 
the  Common  Schools  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  contained 
numerous  important  provisions  enlarging  the  powers  of  the 
Board  of  Education.  Under  the  educational  laws  passed  early 
in  the  '40*5,  school  officers  (Commissioners,  Inspectors,  and  Trus- 
tees) were  elected  at  special  elections  held  in  June.  Experi- 
ence soon  proved  that  these  elections  aroused  little  public 
interest,  and  after  a  few  years  the  law  was  amended  so  that 
school  officers  were  chosen  at  the  general  elections ;  but  the  per- 
sons elected  did  not  enter  on  their  duties  until  some  nine  months 
afterward.  This  was  changed  in  1851,  the  fiscal  and  official 
year  being  made  to  begin  on  the  1st  of  January.  The  financial 
system,  which  under  the  old  law  was  "cumbrous,  complicated 
and  expensive,"  was  also  changed.  Instead  of  being  paid  to 

1  The  terms  "  Male  Department "  and  "  Female  Department,"  with  the  contrac- 
tions "  M.D."  and  "  F.D.,"  were  used  officially  by  the  Board  of  Education  for  many 
years. 


Board  of  Education  —  /<?5J  to  1860  145 

the  different  Commissioners,  by  whom  separate  accounts  were 
kept,  the  Board  having  no  real  control  of  the  funds  or  the 
accounts,1  all  school  moneys  were  paid  into  the  city  treasury, 
and  upon  the  funds  there  deposited  the  Board  drew  directly  for 
all  school  purposes.  By  the  new  law,  the  Free  Academy  and 
the  evening  schools  were  made  parts  of  the  common  school 
system.  Augmented  powers  were  given  to  the  local  officers  of 
the  wards.  On  this  point  a  further  quotation  from  the  address 
of  Mr.  Benedict,  above  referred  to,  is  apposite : 

"  Upon  the  local  officers  must  always  depend  the  character  and  respectabil- 
ity of  the  schools.  The  present  system  could  never  have  existed,  nor  could 
it  now  be  maintained  if  it  did  not  properly  respect  the  many  and  various 
shades  of  political,  religious  and  social  opinions  and  practices  which  prevail 
in  particular  localities.  .  .  .  Under  the  Act  now  to  go  into  operation,  the 
School  Officers  of  each  ward  are  a  single  Board  for  many  important  purposes, 
while  each  class  of  officers  has,  also,  its  appropriate  function.  The  Trustees 
of  the  wards  seem  to  have  been  always  intended  by  the  law  to  be  the  respon- 
sible and  controlling  power  in  the  management  of  the  schools.  For  obvious 
reasons,  this  should  be  so,  and  the  new  law  has  been  careful  rather  to  increase 
than  to  diminish  the  breadth  and  scope  of  their  powers,  and  the  respectability 
and  influence  of  their  position.  The  elected  Trustees  constitute  a  clear 
majority  of  the  whole  Board  of  School  Officers,  and  may,  therefore,  be  properly 
said  to  be  clothed  with  the  powers  of  that  Board,  which  are  numerous  and 
important." 

The  law  further  provided  that  the  Board  should  make  rules 
and  regulations  "  to  secure  proper  economy  and  accountability 
in  the  expenditure  of  the  school  moneys."  This  was  construed 
to  mean  the  power  to  adopt  a  uniform  system  of  purchasing 
supplies,  and  such  a  system  was  adopted  and  put  in  force  in 
1852,  as  described  in  the  preceding  chapter. 

A  very  important  provision  of  the  act  gave  the  Board  power 
to  appoint  a  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  and  one  or  more 

1  See  Mr.  Benedict's  address,  mentioned  above.  He  remarked,  as  an  illustration 
of  the  carelessness  with  which  business  was  transacted  under  the  old  system,  that  he 
had  received  notices  from  the  bank  to  the  effect  that  "  the  account  of  the  Board  was 
overdrawn  to  very  large  amounts —  at  one  time  $80,000  — with  no  means  of  correcting 
the  evil." 


146  The  New  York  Public  School 

Assistant  Superintendents,  and  also  a  Superintendent  of  School 
Buildings.  For  a  number  of  years  (from  1841)  there  had  been 
a  County  Superintendent  of  Schools,  elected  by  the  Board  of 
Supervisors,  and  not  directly  amenable  to  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. The  City  Superintendent  was  empowered  to  visit  schools, 
to  inquire  into  all  matters  relating  to  the  government,  course  of 
instruction,  books,  studies,  discipline,  and  conduct  of  the  schools, 
and  the  condition  of  the  schoolhouses,  to  advise  and  counsel 
with  the  Trustees  regarding  these  matters,  to  ascertain  whether 
the  provisions  of  law  relative  to  sectarian  religious  teaching  and 
books  had  been  violated,  etc. ;  and  also  to  examine  candidates 
for  teacherships  and  grant  certificates  to  those  entitled  thereto, 
to  annul  such  licenses  under  certain  conditions,  etc.  The  first 
incumbent  of  this  office  was  Joseph  McKeen,  who  had  been 
County  Superintendent  from  1848.  In  1854  Samuel  S.  Ran- 
dall, who  had  been  Deputy  State  Superintendent  of  Common 
Schools,  was  elected  City  Superintendent,  and  Mr.  McKeen 
became  an  Assistant  Superintendent,  serving  as  such  until  his 
death,  in  I856.1 

The  first  Superintendent  of  School  Buildings  was  Amnon 
Macvey,  who  had  been  for  many  years  superintendent  of  the 
workshop  of  the  Public  School  Society.  Mr.  Macvey's  first 
title  under  the  Board  of  Education  was  superintendent  of  the 
repairing  shop,  and  the  salary  proposed  for  that  position  was 
$1500. 

The  growth  of  the  school  system  for  the  first  ten  years  of 
the  existence  of  the  Board  is  shown  by  the  following  excerpt 
from  the  report  of  Superintendent  McKeen,  presented  to  the 
Board  on  December  23,  1853:  "Comparing  the  present  year 
with  ten  years  ago,  we  bring  out  this  remarkable  fact :  that 
while  the  city  has  had  the  enormous  increase  of  60  per  cent,  the 
school  attendance  has  increased  120  per  cent." 

While  the   courses  of   instruction   in   the   schools   in    1853 

1  The  salary  of  the  City  Superintendent  was  originally  $1500,  "including  the 
expenses  of  his  office." 


Board  of  Education  —  1853  to  1860  147 

varied  in  some  particulars,  as  different  teachers  and  boards  of 
school  officers  arranged  the  details  differently,  the  following 
"  full  synopsis  of  them  as  they  substantially  exist,"  taken  from 
the  Annual  Report  for  1853  (pp.  15,  16),  may  be  of  interest: 

PRIMARY  DEPARTMENT 

ist  Class.   Alphabetical  Cards. 

2.d  Class.   Spell  and  read  monosyllables. 

^d  Class.   Kay's  Reader,  No.  2,  and  Sanders'  Spellers  ;  Tables  of  Addition. 

tfh  Class.    Same  as  3d,  with  ciphering  through  Addition. 

$th  Class.  Webb's  Reader,  No.  2,  Swan's  Speller,  Price's  Table-book, 
and  ciphering  through  Multiplication. 

6th  Class.  Webb's  Reader,  No.  3,  Pierson's  Speller  and  Tables,  Mon- 
teith's  Geography,  and  ciphering  through  Division. 

From  the  last-named  Class  the  promotions  are  made  to  the  Upper  Depart- 
ments. 

UPPER  DEPARTMENTS 

MALE  DEPARTMENTS 

Class  1st.  Receives  the  promotions  from  the  Primary  Department;  and 
reviews  the  simple  rules,  and  becomes  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  Tables 
of  Weights  and  Measures  ;  also  studies  Geography. 

Class  id.  Federal  Money  and  Denominate  Numbers  as  far  as  Compound 
Multiplication ;  pursues  the  study  of  Geography  also ;  Spelling  from  Dictation 
thoroughly  taught. 

Class  ^d.  Denominate  Numbers  and  Reduction ;  commences  the  study 
of  Grammar,  and  becomes  proficient  in  Geography. 

Class  4//J.  Rule  of  Three  and  Fractions,  History  of  the  United  States, 
English  Grammar  and  Composition,  Geography,  Spelling, 

Class  $th.  As  far  as  the  Square  and  Cube  Roots ;  thorough  course  of 
Historical  and  Grammatical  Instruction;  and  commences  the  study  of 
Algebra.^ 

C fas s  6th.  Is  subdivided  into  two  classes;  the  pupils  of  which  are  pre- 
paring for  admission  into  the  Free  Academy,  by  pursuing  the  course  of  study 
requisite  to  the  accomplishment  of  that  end. 

All  the  Classes  are  taught  Penmanship,  Declamation  and  Drawing. 

FEMALE  DEPARTMENT 

1st  Class.  Sanders'  Spelling  Book,  Underhill's  Table-book,  Parley's 
Geography,  Sanders'  Third  Reader,  Davies'  Arithmetic  —  Numeration,  Addi- 
tion and  Subtraction. 


148  The  New  York  Piiblic  School 

id  Class.  Sanders'  Spelling  Book,  Underbill's  Table-book,  Parley's  Geog- 
raphy, Angell's  Fourth  Reader,  Davies'  Arithmetic  —  Multiplication  and  Sub- 
traction. 

3^  Class.  Swan's  Speller,  Price's  Table-book,  Hazen's  First  Grammar, 
Fitch's  Geography,  Angell's  Fifth  Reader,  Davies'  Arithmetic  —  Division, 
Short  and  Long. 

Afh  Class.  Hazen's  Definer,  Price's  Table-book,  Hazen's  First  Grammar, 
Clark's  Astronomy,  Goodrich's  Geography  —  Reading  Books:  Willard's  His- 
tory of  the  United  States,  Webb's  Fourth  Reader  —  Davies'  Arithmetic, 
through  Reduction,  and  Federal  Money. 

$th  Class.  Gummere's  Spelling-book,  Price's  Table-book,  Wells'  Gram- 
mar, Davenport's  History  of  the  United  States,  Clark's  Astronomy,  Goodrich's 
Geography  —  Reading  Books  :  Robbins'  Outlines  of  History,  Tower's  Fourth 
Reader  —  Davies'  Arithmetic,  through  the  Compound  Rules. 

6th  Class.  Lynd's  Etymology,  Colburn's  Mental  Arithmetic,  Hazen's 
Second  Grammar,  Scott's  United  States  History,  Mattison's  Primary 
Astronomy,  Goodrich's  Geography  —  Reading  Books,  Tower's  Fifth  Reader, 
Robbins'  Outlines  of  History,  Ackerman's  Natural  History  —  Davies'  Arith- 
metic, Fractions  —  Vulgar  and  Decimal. 

7th  Class.  Thomas'  Etymology,  Colburn's  Mental  Arithmetic,  Hazen's 
Second  Grammar,  Scott's  United  States,  Bern's  Chronology,  Smith's  Astron- 
omy, Mitchell's  Geography,  Pinneo's  Hemans  Reader,  Davies'  University 
Arithmetic,  and  Greenleaf's,  from  Decimal  Fractions  through  the  remainder 
of  the  book. 

The  holidays,  as  fixed  by  the  by-laws,  were  as  follows : 
Every  Saturday  throughout  the  year ;  the  day  celebrated  as  the 
anniversary  of  American  Independence;  Thanksgiving  Day; 
the  week  commencing  with  the  twenty-fifth  of  December  and 
ending  with  New  Year's  Day,  both  inclusive;  the  Commence- 
ment Day  of  the  Free  Academy ;  and  the  interval  between  the 
last  Friday  of  July  and  the  first  Monday  of  September. 

In  1854  the  course  of  studies  was  revised,  enlarged,  and 
simplified,  and  it  was  provided  that  vocal  music  should  be  taught 
and  practised  in  the  schools  to  as  great  an  extent  as  possible. 
Singing  had  been  a  feature  in  the  school  exercises  for  several 
years  and  pianofortes  had  been  used  in  many  schools,  having 
been  hired  or  purchased  by  the  school  officers,  or  presented 
through  the  liberality  of  school  officials  or  friends.  Mr.  Boese 


Board  of  Education  — 1853  to  1860  149 

says  (p.  89)  that  in  1855  pianos  were  introduced  into  the  boys' 
and  primary  departments  and  the  primary  schools,  having  pre- 
viously been  "  provided  in  part  only  for  the  female  depart- 
ments." He  adds:  "This  step  has  greatly  influenced  the 
discipline  of  the  schools,  and  rendered  them  pleasant,  cheerful, 
and  attractive,  besides  introducing  a  beneficial  vocal  training." 
The  revised  course  of  study  included  drawing  on  slates  and 
blackboards,  in  the  primary  grades,  and  elementary  lessons  on 
natural  objects  and  in  the  elementary  principles  of  mineralogy, 
geology,  chemistry,  and  physiology,  in  the  grammar  grades. 
In  November,  1854,  by-laws  were  adopted  providing  that 

"the  Ward  Schools  shall  consist  of  Primary  and  Grammar  Schools;  the 
present  Upper  Departments  shall  be  designated  as  Grammar  Schools  for  Boys 
and  Grammar  Schools  for  Girls,  respectively.  Each  School  shall  be  divided 
into  five  classes,  with  as  many  subdivisions  as  may  be  necessary ;  the  highest 
or  the  most  advanced  class  to  be  designated  as  No.  i,  and  the  lowest  as  No.  5. 
The  subdivisions  of  classes  shall  be  called  Sections  A,  B,  C,  &c." 

The  first  attempt  to  provide  a  uniform  schedule  of  salaries 
was  made  in  1854,  when,  after  long  deliberation,  the  Board 
adopted  by-laws  limiting  the  number  and  prescribing  the  posi- 
tions of  the  teachers  to  be  employed  in  the  several  schools,  and 
fixing  a  maximum  salary  for  each  position.  By  the  schedule 
adopted  the  salaries  of  principals  in  the  grammar  schools  ranged 
from  $1500  (men)  to  $480  (women),  and  in  the  primary  schools 
from  $480  to  $300,  the  rate  depending  in  part  on  the  attend- 
ance; vice-principals  received  from  $1000  to  $200;  and  assis- 
tant teachers  from  $600  to  $100.  The  plan  failed  to  produce 
the  expected  results,  and  the  by-laws  mentioned  were  repealed 
on  March  21,  1855.  The  Annual  Report  for  1856,  reviewing 
the  subject,  states  that  they  were  found  "impracticable  and 
injurious,"  and  adds: 

"  The  endeavor  to  prescribe  a  uniform  arrangement  of  the  classes,  without 
previously  securing  some  degree  of  uniformity  in  the  size  and  character  of  the 
schools,  only  resulted  in  an  increase  in  the  number  of  the  teachers  necessarily 
employed;  and  the  attempt  to  limit  the  salaries  by  maximum  rates,  was 


150  The  New  York  Public  School 

effective  to  accomplish  a  systematic  raise  to  the  highest  points.  While  in 
many  cases  the  best  teachers,  being  at  the  highest  notch,  could  receive  no 
increase,  the  poorer  ones  seldom  failed  to  reach  the  maximum.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  show  that  these  by-laws  in  any  case  saved  a  single  dollar ;  while 
it  is  certain  that  they  swelled  the  aggregate  increase  of  salaries  beyond  what  it 
would  otherwise  have  been"  (p.  44). 

The  Hall  of  the  Board  was  enlarged  in  1854,  at  a  cost  of 
about  $20,000,  a  fourth  story  being  added ;  and  about  the  same 
time  several  schoolhouses  were  rebuilt,  including  two  (Nos.  4 
and  n)  of  those  erected  in  the  early  part  of  the  century  by  the 
Public  School  Society.  In  1857  Grammar  School  33  (Twenty- 
eighth  street,  near  Ninth  avenue)  was  built  at  a  total  cost 
(including  the  site)  of  $61,666.59.  This  was  the  most  expensive 
building  erected  up  to  that  time.  The  Annual  Report  for  that 
year  speaks  of  it  as  "an  ornament  to  the  city,"  and  says  that 
"in  its  architectural  designs  and  internal  arrangements"  it  is 
"justly  regarded  as  the  most  beautiful  and  perfect  Common 
School  edifice  in  this  or  any  other  country."  Some  space  in 
this  report  is  devoted  to  answering  criticisms  levelled  at  the 
Board  on  account  of  the  costliness  of  school  buildings,  the  con- 
clusion being :  "  An  examination  of  the  subject  will  show  that 
the  largest,  best  situated,  and  most  expensive  school  houses  are 
the  most  economical,  the  educational  results  alone  being  con- 
sidered "  (p.  24). 

The  question  of  corporal  punishment  attracted  attention  as 
early  as  1850,  in  which  year  a  special  committee  was  appointed 
to  inquire  and  report  on  the  "  expediency  of  abolishing  corporal 
punishment  in  every  department  of  the  Ward  and  Public  Schools 
of  the  city  of  New  York."  The  committee  reported  strong  rea- 
sons against  the  use  of  the  rod,  and  concluded  with  the  following 
resolution : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Education  earnestly  recommend  the  In- 
spectors and  Trustees  of  the  several  Ward  and  Public  Schools  to  exert  their 
united  influence  to  abolish  corporal  punishment  in  every  department  of  the 
Schools  under  their  control." 


Board  of  Education  — 1853  to  1860  1 5 1 

The  members  of  the  committee  signing  the  report  were 
Dr.  William  A.  Walters,  Samuel  A.  Crapo,  John  McLean,  and 
Wm.  S.  Duke.  The  report  was  presented  on  May  15,  1850, 
and  lay  on  the  table  until  October  i6th,  when  it  was  taken 
up  and  the  Clerk  was  ordered  to  send  "copies  to  each  of  the 
Inspectors  and  Trustees  of  the  several  Ward  and  Public  Schools 
to  be  distributed  among  the  teachers." 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION— 1853  TO  1860 
President 

Erastus  C.  Benedict1 1853,1854 

William  H.  Neilson1 1855  and  1858-1859 

Andrew  H.  Green1 1856,1857 

Richard  Warren l 1859 

William  E.  Curtis1 1860 

Clerk 

Albert  Gilbert l 1853-1858 

Thomas  Boesd1 1858  (from  June  I3th)-i86o 

Superintendent  of  School  Buildings 

Amnon  Macvey l 1854-1860 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 

Joseph  McKeen 1 1853,1854 

Samuel  S.  Randall  * 1854  (from  June  7th)-i86o 

Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools 

Joseph  McKeen !     .         .        .        .        .        .  1854  (from  July  5th)-i856 

Samuel  W.  Seton l 1854  (from  July  5th)-i 860 

Henry  Kiddle l 1856-1860 

William  Jones1 1856-1860 

1  Deceased. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
BOARD   OF  EDUCATION— 1860  TO   1870 

DURING  the  decade  from  1860  to  1870,  two  changes  of  im- 
portance were  made  in  the  laws  relating  to  public  education 
in  New  York  City.  The  first  occurred  in  1864,  when  an  act 
was  passed  (April  25th)  establishing  seven  school  districts; 
reducing  the  Board  of  Education  from  forty-four  members, 
elected  by  wards,  to  twenty-one  members,  to  be  elected  by  dis- 
tricts, each  district  to  elect  one  member  each  year  (the  title 
Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  being  retained) l ;  reducing 
the  number  of  Trustees  elected  in  each  ward  from  eight  to  five, 
and  providing  for  three  Inspectors  in  each  of  the  seven  districts, 
to  be  nominated  by  the  Mayor,  subject  to  confirmation  by  the 
Board  of  Education. 

The  school  districts  were  as  follows : 

First  —  First,  Second,  Third,  Fourth,  Fifth,  Sixth,  and  Eighth  Wards. 

Second—  Seventh,  Tenth,  Thirteenth,  and  Fourteenth  Wards. 

Third  —  Ninth  and  Sixteenth  Wards. 

Fourth  —  Eleventh  and  Seventeenth  Wards. 

Fifth  —  Fifteenth  and  Eighteenth  Wards. 

Sixth  —  Twentieth  and  Twenty-first  Wards. 

Seventh  —  Twelfth,  Nineteenth,  and  Twenty-second  Wards. 

The  power  of  appointing  teachers  and  janitors  was  retained 
in  the  hands  of  the  Trustees,  but  nominations  of  principals  and 
vice-principals,  made  by  the  Trustees,  were  subject  to  approval 
by  the  Board  of  Education,  to  which  authority  was  also  given  in 
the  matter  of  the  removal  of  teachers.  The  new  law  provided 

1  It  continued  to  be  used  in  the  statutes  until  the  first  Greater  New  York  Charter 
was  enacted,  in  1897,  taking  effect  in  the  succeeding  year. 

152 


Board  of  Education  — 1860  to  1870  153 

that  licenses  to  teach  should  be  granted  by  the  City  Superin- 
tendent, or  one  of  his  assistants,  in  the  presence  of  at  least  two 
Inspectors  designated  by  the  Board.  The  Board  was  authorized 
to  discontinue  any  school  with  the  consent  of  a  majority  of  the 
Trustees  of  the  ward,  or  by  a  two-thirds  vote  in  the  absence  of 
such  consent.  Local  boards  of  school  officers  (the  school  offi- 
cers were  the  Commissioners,  Inspectors,  and  Trustees  of  the 
ward,  and  for  certain  purposes  they  constituted  a  local  board) 
were  abolished  by  the  act,  and  it  was  provided  that  repairs 
should  be  made  by  the  Trustees  under  rules  and  regulations  to 
be  established  by  the  Board  of  Education. 

The  Commissioners  elected  by  the  several  wards  were  not 
legislated  out  of  office ;  hence  the  Board  for  1865  consisted  of 
twenty-two  members  elected  by  wards  in  1863,  and  seven  mem- 
bers elected  by  districts  in  1864.  The  terms  of  the  members 
elected  by  wards  expired  on  December  31,  1865,  at  which  time 
only  fourteen  members  had  been  elected  by  districts  (one  in 
each  district  in  1864  and  one  in  1865).  In  order  to  make  up 
the  full  number,  twenty-one,  seven  Commissioners  were  nomi- 
nated by  the  Mayor  in  January,  1866,  and  confirmed  by  the 
Board,  there  being  a  provision  in  the  law  of  1864  to  that  effect. 

The  reason  for  the  establishment  of  school  districts  is  thus 
given  in  the  Annual  Report  for  1878:  "The  gradual  removal 
of  population  from  the  southern  to  the  northern  part  of  Man- 
hattan Island  produced  great  inequalities  in  the  population  of 
the  several  wards,  and  gave  to  the  more  southerly  wards  an 
undue  predominance  in  the  Board  of  Education  "  (p.  26). 

Mr.  Boese",  writing  in  1867,  said  of  the  new  law:  "On  the 
25th  of  April,  1864,  the  Legislature  passed  an  act  which  has 
already  done  very  much  to  bring  the  entire  system  into  full 
harmony  and  unity,  and  to  remove  nearly  all,  and  certainly  the 
chief  sources  of  difficulty.  The  lower  business  wards,  having 
a  few  small  schools,  with  a  limited  number  of  pupils,  had  here- 
tofore been  equally  represented  in  the  Board  of  Education  with 
the  wards  that  educated  several  thousands  of  children.  This 


154  The  New  York  Public  School 

inequality,  as  well  as  the  injurious  identification  of  the  members 
of  the  Board  with  the  several  boards  of  trustees,  was  removed 
by  dividing  the  city  into  seven  school  districts  of  nearly  equal 
school  population,  each  of  which  sends  three  commissioners  to 
the  Board  of  Education.  These  commissioners  hold  office  for 
three  years,  one  going  out  of  office  and  his  successor  being 
elected  each  year.  The  Board,  therefore,  consists  of  twenty-one 
members,  instead  of  the  previous  number  of  forty-four,  or  two 
from  each  ward.  This  smaller  number  is  a  decided  gain,  in  the 
efficiency  of  its  working,  while  at  the  same  time  the  members 
being  no  longer  ex  officio  members  of  the  local  boards,  are  not 
so  closely  identified  with  narrow  local  interests.  The  extension 
of  the  term  of  office  from  two  years  to  three,  and  the  loss  of 
only  one-third  of  the  Board  at  the  end  of  each  year,  insures 
an  experienced  majority  in  all  its  deliberations. 

"  The  local  boards  of  trustees  were  in  the  same  manner  im- 
proved by  being  reduced  from  eight  members  —  ten,  with  the  two 
commissioners  —  to  five,  one  elected  each  year  and  holding  office 
for  five  years. 

"  The  inspectors,  clothed  with  new  and  enlarged  powers  and 
made  equal  in  number  to  the  commissioners,  hold  office  for  the 
same  time,  and  represent  corresponding  districts ;  but  in  place 
of  being  elected  by  the  people,  are  nominated  by  the  mayor,  and 
elected  by  the  Board  of  Education  "  (pp.  94,  Q5).1 

A  most  radical  measure  was  introduced  in  the  Legislature 
in  1867.  It  provided  for  a  complete  change  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  school  system  of  the  city.  The  bill  abolished 
the  Board  of  Education,  the  Trustees,  and  the  Inspectors, 
and  provided  for  a  commission  of  seven,  termed  the  Metro- 
politan Board  of  Instruction,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Governor 

1  The  office  6f  Inspector  was  continued  until  1902.  In  point  of  fact,  Inspectors 
never  had  more  than  inspectorial  and  advisory  powers  —  or  very  little  more.  Their 
duties,  as  set  forth  in  the  statute,  appeared  important,  but,  beyond  making  recom- 
mendations, they  performed  no  actual  duty  except  that  of  auditing  bills  passed  by 
the  Trustees.  For  many  years  two  Inspectors  were  designated  to  act  with  the  City 
Superintendent  in  licensing  teachers. 


Board  of  Education  — 1860  to  1870  155 

and  Senate.  The  members  of  this  board  were  to  hold  office 
for  eight  years,  and  were  to  receive  salaries  of  $5000  per 
annum  each.  It  was  claimed  by  the  advocates  of  this  bill  that 
under  the  existing  system  the  schools  were  too  expensive  and 
that  the  Board  of  Education  did  not  furnish  sufficient  school 
facilities.  The  bill  was  strongly  opposed  as  an  attempt  to 
deprive  the  people  of  the  city  of  their  rights  in  the  matter  of 
the  education  of  their  children,  and  failed  of  passage.  The 
introduction  of  it,  however,  had  one  excellent  effect,  viz.,  the 
enactment  of  a  law  in  that  year  (1867)  providing  for  raising  by 
taxation  an  increased  amount  for  sites  and  schoolhouses,  in 
consequence  of  which  the  Board  lost  no  time  in  arranging 
for  enlarged  school  accommodations. 

While  the  bill  referred  to  was  pending,  several  members  of 
the  Assembly  committee  to  which  it  had  been  referred  visited 
New  York,  and  spent  three  days  in  inspecting  schools.  "At 
the  close  of  their  visit,"  says  City  Superintendent  Randall  in  his 
report  for  1867,  "they  unanimously  expressed  their  perfect  and 
entire  satisfaction  with  the  ability  and  integrity  which  character- 
ized every  portion  of  its  [the  school  system's]  administration, 
and  especially  with  the  scholarship  and  discipline  of  the  Schools, 
which  they  pronounced  to  be  far  superior  to  anything  of  which 
they  had  previously  conceived"  (p.  12). 

Another,  and  a  successful,  attempt  to  do  away  with  the 
district  system  was  made  in  1869,  when  an  act  was  passed 
(April  3Oth)  effecting  what  the  Annual  Report  for  the  year  just 
mentioned  termed  "  a  complete  revolution  "  in  the  constitution 
of  the  Board.  This  act  provided  for  a  Board  of  Education  con- 
sisting of  twelve  members,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor  within 
five  days  from  the  passage  of  the  act,  and  to  serve  until  Decem- 
ber 31,  1871,  and  further  provided  that  in  the  last-named  year 
twelve  Commissioners  of  Common  Schools  should  be  voted  for 
on  a  general  ticket.  The  principle  of  minority  representation 
was  introduced  by  a  requirement  that  no  voter  should  vote  for 
more  than  seven  candidates ;  the  seven  receiving  the  highest 


156  The  New  York  Public  School 

number  of  votes  were  to  be  declared  elected,  and  the  five  receiv- 
ing the  next  highest  number  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor 
as  members  of  the  Board  of  Education.  In  making  the  first 
appointments,  the  Mayor  was  required  to  observe  the  principle 
of  minority  representation.  The  act  provided  that  the  Board 
should  not  have  power  to  provide  additional  sites  or  buildings, 
or  to  remove  any  teacher,  except  by  a  vote  of  three-fourths  of 
all  its  members. 

The  first  appointments  by  the  Mayor  were  promptly  made, 
and  the  new  Board  of  twelve  members  entered  upon  its  duties 
on  the  1 2th  of  May,  1869.  No  election  of  Commissioners,  how- 
ever, was  ever  held  under  the  law  passed  in  that  year,  as  it  was 
repealed  by  the  Legislature  in  1870. 

In  1 86 1  by-laws  were  adopted  fixing  the  maximum  salaries 
of  principals  and  vice-principals  as  follows : 

Principals  of  male  grammar  schools $1500 

Principals  of  female  grammar  schools          ......  750 

Principals  of  primary  schools  or  departments      .....  600 

Vice-principals  of  male  grammar  schools noo 

Vice-principals  of  female  grammar  schools 550 

Vice-principals  of  primary  schools  or  departments      ....  450 

and  providing  that 

"  the  aggregate  salaries  of  Teachers  in  any  Ward  shall  not  exceed  a  fund  equal 
to  a  maximum  annual  salary  for  each  Principal  and  Vice-Principal  in  said  Ward, 
at  the  rates  fixed  in  the  preceding  Section,  and  an  allowance  of  $13  per  pupil 
for  male  grammar  scholars,  in  Departments  where  the  annual  average  attend- 
ance exceeds  two  hundred  pupils,  and  $15  per  pupil,  where  the  annual  average 
attendance  is  less  than  two  hundred  pupils ;  $10  per  pupil  for  female  grammar 
scholars,  and  $6  per  pupil  for  primary  scholars,  of  the  sworn  average  of  the 
School  in  said  Ward  for  the  previous  year ;  .  .  .  "  * 

Notwithstanding  the  greatly  increased  cost  of  all  the  neces- 
saries of  life  caused  by  the  Civil  War,  the  salaries  of  teachers 
in  New  York  remained  unchanged  until  January  i,  1864,  when 
a  uniform  increase  of  twenty  per  cent,  went  into  effect.  In  the 
next  few  years  further  advances  were  made,  so  that  in  1867  male 

1  Annual  Report,  1861,  pp.  43,  44. 


Board  of  Education  —  1860  to  1870  157 

principals  received  from  $2250  to  $3000,  male  vice-principals 
from  $1400  to  $2000,  and  women  assistants  in  boys'  departments 
an  average  not  exceeding  $725 ;  principals  of  girls'  departments 
from  $1200  to  $1700,  vice-principals  $1100,  and  assistants  an 
average  of  $650 ;  principals  of  primary  departments  from  $1000 
to  $1500,  vice-principals  $900  to  $1000,  and  assistants  an 
average  of  $500.  The  by-laws  provided  that  "  the  minimum 
salary  paid  to  any  teacher  employed  in  the  schools  under  the 
control  of  this  Board  shall  be  four  hundred  dollars." 

In  1860  there  were  forty-four  evening  schools,  —  twenty- 
three  for  men  and  boys,  nineteen  for  women  and  girls,  and  two 
for  colored  pupils  of  both  sexes.  The  average  attendance  was 
14,449.  In  tne  Year  mentioned  a  change  of  some  importance 
was  made  through  the  transfer  of  the  immediate  control  and 
supervision  of  these  schools  from  an  Executive  Committee 
appointed  by  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  school  officers  of 
the  several  wards,  who  from  this  time  nominated  the  teachers 
and  cared  for  the  colored  schools  in  the  same  way  as  for  the 
grammar  and  primary  schools.  The  annual  report  of  City 
Superintendent  Randall  for  1861  said: 

"  The  transfer  of  the  control  of  these  institutions,  from  an  Executive  Com- 
mittee' of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  Trustees  of  the  several  Wards  in 
which  they  are  or  may  be  located,  has  thus  far  been  attended  with  very  satis- 
factory results.  The  visits  of  the  officers  are  more  frequent,  and  a  more  com- 
plete supervision  over  the  affairs  and  appointments  of  each  of  these  schools  is 
effected"  (pp.  16,  17). 

In  1866  the   evening   school   system   was   remodelled,  the 
number  of  schools  being  reduced  from  forty-eight  to  twenty-five 
—  thirteen  for  men  and  boys,  and  twelve  for  women  and  girls. 
In  his  report  for  that  year  Mr.  Randall  said : 

"  This  reduction  has  been  accomplished  by  excluding  from  admission  all 
applicants  not  accompanied  or  vouched  for  by  some  responsible  person,  all 
male  pupils  under  fourteen,  and  female  pupils  under  twelve  years  of  age,  and 
all  those  whose  ages  and  avocations  will  admit  of  their  attendance  in  the 
day-schools"  (pp.  18,  19). 


158  The  New  York  Public  School 

During  this  year  (1866)  an  important  step  was  taken  in  the 
establishment  of  the  first  evening  high  school  in  this  city.  It 
was  also  the  first  evening  high  school  in  the  country.  The 
school  was  opened  in  Grammar  School  No.  35,  and  was  the  only 
evening  high  school  in  New  York  for  more  than  twenty  years. 
This  school  is  still  in  existence,  being  known  as  the  New  York 
Evening  High  School.1  -^ 

The  normal  schools  inherited  by  the  Board  of  Education 
from  the  Public  School  Society  were,  as  has  been  said  in  an 
earlier  chapter,  not  truly  normal  in  their  character,  and  in  1861 
they  were  discontinued  by  the  Board,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Colored  Normal  School.  According  to  the  Annual  Report  for 
1863, 

"The  Normal  Schools,  established  by  the  Public  School  Society,  were 
continued  for  some  years  subsequent  to  the  dissolution  of  the  society,  owing 
to  their  excellence  as  supplementary  schools;  but  as  the  common  schools 
advanced  in  grade,  and  became  able  to  impart  a  similar  kind  and  degree  of 
scholarship,  it  was  deemed  by  the  Board  unnecessary  to  continue  them,  and 
they  were  accordingly  closed  to  give  place  to  others  more  truly  normal  in  their 
character,  and  better  adapted  to  instruct  their  pupils  in  the  theory  and  art  of 
teaching"  (pp.  22,23). 

In  1864,  however,  it  was  decided  to  re-establish  the  Saturday 
Normal  School  for  women,  and  it  was  started  with  good  pros- 
pects. "  Classes  have  been  organized  with  the  view  to  afford  an 
opportunity  for  instruction  in  all  the  branches  of  study  prescribed 
for  the  several  grades  of  certificates  conferred  by  the  City  Super- 
intendent, as  well  as  for  instruction  in  the  principles  and  methods 
of  teaching,  so  as  to  impart  a  knowledge  of  the  proper  modes 
of  presenting,  analyzing,  and  explaining  the  several  branches 
required  to  be  taught  in  the  Primary  and  Grammar  Schools."  2 

The  need  of  a  regular  institution  for  the  education  of  girls 

1  In  his  report  for  1867  the  City  Superintendent  stated  that  the  evening  high 
school  had  "proved  eminently  successful  in  accomplishing  the  objects  for  which  it 
was  designed"  (p.  26).     The  report  of  the  principal  of  this  school  formed  a  feature 
in  the  Annual  Reports  of  the  Board  for  many  years. 

2  Annual  Report,  1864,  p.  26. 


Board  of  Education  — 1860  to  1870  159 

and  for  the  proper  training  of  teachers  had  long  been  recognized. 
In  the  same  year  in  which  the  Free  Academy  was  opened,  a 
select  committee,  appointed  to  inquire  "into  the  propriety  and 
expediency  of  establishing  a  Female  Free  Academy,"  presented 
to  the  Board  an  elaborate  report  strongly  favoring  the  project,1 
and  the  Annual  Report  for  1854  devoted  several  pages  to  a 
plea  for  "  affording  the  opportunity  of  a  liberal  education  to  the 
pupils  of  our  Female  Grammar  Schools"  (see  pp.  5O-58).2  The 
project  languished  for  financial  and  other  reasons.  The  situa- 
tion in  1867  may  be  estimated  from  the  annual  report  of  the 
City  Superintendent,  who,  under  the  heading  "  Normal  and 
High  School  for  Girls,"  says  :  "  Such  institutions  have  long 
been  in  existence  in  nearly  all  our  leading  cities,  and  they  are 
specially  and  peculiarly  needed  here.  To  supply  their  want, 
we  have  only  a  Saturday  Normal  School,  for  those  who  are 
already  engaged  in  teaching,  and  supplementary  classes  of  from 
fifteen  to  thirty  pupils  in  as  many  of  our  Grammar  Schools  as 
can  obtain  the  requisite  number.  As  no  such  class  can,  under 
the  by-law  of  the  Board,  be  formed  at  all,  in  any  school,  with  a 
less  number  of  pupils  than  twenty-five,  or  continued  without  an 
average  attendance  of  twenty,  a  large  number  of  female  pupils 
in  schools  where  this  average  cannot  be  obtained  or  kept  up, 
are  virtually  excluded  from  advancement  beyond  the  Grammar 
School  course "  (p.  24).  The  Superintendent  estimated  that 
probably  a  thousand  girls  who  had  completed  the  highest  gram- 
mar course  would  be  glad  to  attend  such  an  institution  as  he 
favored. 

1  The  committee  consisted  of  Robert  Kelly  (then  President  of  the  Board), 
Edward  B.  Fellows,  Erastus  C.  Benedict  (President  1850-1854),  James  Cruikshank, 
and  Timothy  Daly. 

2  It  is  an  interesting  circumstance  that  in  a  report  to  the  Board,  dated  November 
21,  1855,  City  Superintendent  Randall  recommended  "the  designation,  by  the  Board 
of  Education,  of  the  building  recently  erected  in  the   Fifteenth  Ward,  in  Twelfth 
street,  near  University  Place,  as  a  Free  Academy  for  Girls."     The  building  referred 
to  was  Grammar  School  No.  47,  in  which  the  Girls'  High  School,  now  the  Wadleigh 
High  School,  was  established  in  1897. 


160  The  New  York  Public  School 

The  school  law  as  amended  in  1854  authorized  the  Board  of 
Education  "  to  continue  the  existing  Free  Academy  and  organize 
a  similar  institution  for  females."  Nothing,  however,  was  actu- 
ally done  until  1869,  when  the  Board  decided  to  establish  a 
Daily  Female  Normal  and  High  School.  This  school  was 
opened,  in  rented  quarters  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Broadway 
and  Fourth  street,  on  February  14,  1870,  and  in  the  following 
year  it  became  the  Normal  College,  which  will  form  the  subject 
of  a  later  chapter. 

In  1866,  by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  the  Free  Academy 
became  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  was  placed 
under  the  control  of  a  Board  of  Trustees  consisting  of  the 
members  of  the  Board  of  Education  and  the  President  of  the 
College. 

The  schools  for  colored  children  (then  ten  in  number),  which 
had  been  in  charge  of  the  local  boards  of  the  different  wards, 
by  which  in  some  cases  they  "  were  either  wholly  or  in  part 
neglected,"1  were  in  1866  brought  under  the  control  and  direc- 
tion of  the  Board  of  Education. 

Light  upon  the  methods  that  prevailed  in  this  era  is  furnished 
by  the  following  resolution  adopted  by  the  Board  on  May  12, 
1869: 

"  On  motion  of  Commissioner  Gross, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Tearoom  in  the  Hall  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
the  practice  of  furnishing  suppers  and  refreshments  to  the  members  of  the 
Board  at  the  expense  of  the  School  Fund,  be  and  the  same  are  hereby 
abolished." 

In  1860  Grammar  School  No.  14  (originally  No.  15  of  the 
Public  School  Society),  in  East  Twenty-seventh  street,  was 
razed,  and  a  new  schoolhouse  erected  in  its  place,  at  a  cost  of 
about  $70,000,  making  (with  the  site,  estimated  at  $30,000)  by 
far  the  most  costly  school  establishment  in  the  city  up  to  that 
time. 

1  Annual  Report,  1866,  p.  12. 


Board  of  Education  — 1860  to  1870  161 

COMPARISON  BETWEEN  1860  AND  1870 


I860 

1870 

Grammar  schools  for  boys  .     .          .     .     •     . 

4.7 

4.2 

Grammar  schools  for  girls         .          .... 

4.7 

4.3 

Grammar  schools,  mixed  (boys  and  girls)  .     . 
Primary  schools  and  departments       .... 

0 

8? 
II 

T-J 

5 
94 
6 

Total     .               

IQ2 

IQO 

Whole  number  of  pupils  taught     
Average  attendance    

iy.fi, 

145,870 

cc,oco 

iyv/ 

194,539 
8C.3O7 

Number  of  teachers         

I.S4.8 

2,4.07 

Salaries  of  teachers          .          .                     .     . 

$660,^80  QQ 

$1,670,620.71 

Total  expenditures 

$1,222,  66?.  34. 

$2,733,CQI.c8 

Cost  of  books  and  supplies  through  the  Depos- 

$6'?,OQ4..'?'; 

$131,747.  CC 

Value  of  school  sites  and  buildings    .... 

$8,596,000.00 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1860  TO  1870 
President 

William  E.  Curtis l 
James  M.  McLean1 
Richard  L.  Larremore l  . 


Thomas  Boesd1  . 
John  Davenport1  . 
William  Hitchman1 
Lawrence  D.  Kiernan l 


1860-1863 
1864-1867 
1868-1870  (to  July  ist) 

Clerk 

1860-1869  (to  April  7th) 

1869  (from  April  7th  to  May  I2th) 

1869  (from  May  I2th),  1870  (to May  4th) 

1870  (from  May  4th) 


Superintendent  of  School  Buildings 

AmnonMacvey1    ....     1860-1867,1869,1870 
James  L.  Miller x     ....     1867,1868 

Auditor 
John  Davenport 1    ....     1 866-1 870  2 

1  Deceased.        2  Mr.  Davenport  acted  as  Clerk  from  April  7  to  May  12,  1869. 


1 62  The  New  York  Public  School 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 

Samuel  S.  Randall x        .        .        .     1860-1870  (to  June  ist) 
Henry  Kiddle1       ....     1870  (from  June  ist) 

Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools 

Henry  Kiddle1       ....  1860-1870  (to  June  ist) 

Samuel  W.  Seton  *          .         .         .  1860-1869  (to  November  2oth) 

William  Jones  *       ....  1860-1870 

Norman  A.  Calkins  *       .         .         .  1863-1870 

Thomas  F.  Harrison  *     .        .        .  1866-1870 

John  H.  Fanning  *          .        .        .  1870 

1  Deceased. 


CHAPTER  XX 

BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  — 1870  TO   1880 

As  in  the  previous  decade,  so  in  the  period  between  1870 
and  1880  there  were  two  important  changes  in  the  laws  relating 
to  the  school  system  of  New  York  City.  In  1871  (April  i8th) 
the  "  act  to  reorganize  the  local  government  of  the  city  of  New 
York,"  passed  in  the  previous  year,  was  amended  by  the  passage 
of  a  law  (Chapter  574)  creating(a  Department  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion as  one  of  the  departments  of  the  city  government  and 
turning  over  to  it  all  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  Board  of 
Education.  This  law  unseated  the  existing  Board  of  Education, 
and  provided  for  the  appointment,  by  the  Mayor,  of  twelve 
Commissioners  of  the  Department  mentioned,  for  terms  of  five 
years  each.  The  Mayor  in  his  appointments  was  required  to 
recognize  the  principle  of  minority  representation  provided  for 
by  the  law  of  1869.  The  Mayor  was  also  authorized  to  appoint 
the  School  Trustees  and  Inspectors.  ) 

The  Commissioners  of  Public  Instruction  provided  for  by  the 
new  law,  were  appointed  without  delay  by  Mayor  A.  Oakey  Hall, 
and  entered  on  their  duties  on  April  29th.  This  law  was 
diametrically  opposed  to  the  principles  of  ward  and  district 
representation  which  had  prevailed  from  the  establishment  of 
the  Board  of  Education  until  1869.  (It  provided  for  a  cen- 
tralized system,  all  the  appointments  of  school  officials  being 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  city's  executive  officer.  It  was  not 
allowed  to  remain  in  force  long.  / 

By  Chapter  112  of  the  laws  of  1873  (passed  March  2ist),  the 
seven  school  districts  set  up  by  the  act  of  1864  were  re-estab- 

163 


164  The  New  York  Public  School 

lished,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  appointment,  by  the 
Mayor,  of  twenty-one  Commissioners  of  Common  Schools,  to 
hold  office  for  three  years,  and  to  constitute  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. The  Commissioners  were  appointed  in  classes  of  seven, 
the  terms  of  one  class  expiring  each  year.  The  Trustees  were 
originally  elective  officers,  and  then  for  two  years  were  appointed 
by  the  Mayor;  now  for  the  first  time  the  power  of  designat- 
ing them  was  given  to  the  Board  of  Education,  which  was 
authorized  to  appoint  five  for  each  ward,  for  five-year  terms. 
The  Mayor  was  directed  by  the  act  to  appoint  three  Inspectors 
for  each  district,  or  twenty-one  in  all,  for  terms  of  three  years 
each.  The  power  to  appoint  principals  and  vice-principals  of 
schools,  on  the  nomination  of  the  ward  Trustees,  was  retained  by 
the  Board  of  Education,  and  was  for  all  practical  purposes  an 
original  function  of  that  body,  through  a  provision  of  the  newly 
enacted  law  that  if  a  nomination  made  by  the  Trustees  was  not 
confirmed  within  twenty  days,  then  the  Board  of  Education  had 
the  sole  power  of  appointment. 

The  system  established  in  1873  remained  substantially 
unchanged  until  1896.  The  changes  effected  in  the  former 
year  were  discussed  at  some  length  in  the  Annual  Report  for 
1878,  from  which  the  following  excerpts  are  made: 

"The  controlling  principle  in  this  return  to  the  former 
system  was  to  remove  the  schools  from  political  supervision. 
The  erection  of  the  Board  of  Education  into  a  department  of 
the  City  government  brought  it  necessarily  into  so  close  a  con- 
tact with  the  influences  almost  inseparable  from  the  municipal 
administration,  that  it  could  not  fail,  sooner  or  later,  to  become 
an  instrument  of  partisan  aggrandizement  and  power. 

"  Indeed,  the  advocates  of  the  Public  School  Society,  years 
before,  used  this  same  argument  of  the  danger  of  partisan 
tendencies,  to  resist  the  demand  for  an  elective  school  system. 
When,  after  thirty  years  of  existence,  the  system  of  elective 
school  officers  had  been  willingly  resigned  by  the  people,  it 
became  an  exaggeration  of  conservatism  to  place  the  whole 


LATER  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 

1.   Andrew  H.  Green.       2.    Richard  L.  Larremore.       3.    James  M.  McLean. 

4.  William  Wood.      5.   Stephen  A.  Walker 


Board  of  Education  —  1870  to  1880  165 

organization  in  the  hands  of  a  single  individual.  The  via 
media  was  found  to  be  in  the  discriminating  selection  of  a 
board  of  twenty-one  members,  representing  the  whole  city,  who 
should  have  power  to  select  and  appoint  the  members  of  the 
local  boards,  and  thus  insure,  as  far  as  could  be  practicable, 
a  just  representation  of  the  character,  nationality  and  interests 
of  the  people  and  of  the  different  sections  of  the  city.  This 
organization  still  continues,  and  the  experience  of  six  years 
shows  its  adaptation  to  the  educational  needs  of  our  city.  .  .  . 

"  The  immediate  supervision  of  the  schools  in  the  respective 
wards  is  given  to  the  Trustees,  who  appoint  teachers,  nominate 
principals  to  the  Board  of  Education  for  approval,  and  subject 
to  general  rules  prescribed  by  that  Board,  provide  books,  fuel, 
and  all  other  supplies,  select  and  recommend  school  sites,  and 
under  the  authority  of  the  Central  Board,  secure  proposals, 
award  contracts,  and  audit  and  certify  bills  for  the  payment  of 
the  cost  of  repairs,  etc.,  as  provided  by  law.  Their  power  of 
the  expenditure  of  money,  although  limited,  gives  them  a  fund 
for  the  incidental  expenses  of  the  wards,  beyond  which  an 
appeal  to  the  Board  almost  invariably  insures  an  appropriation 
for  every  reasonable  demand.  Cases  of  embarrassment  have 
sometimes  arisen  where  Trustees  have  exceeded  their  proper 
limits,  but  they  have  been  infrequent. 

"The  Inspectors  have  the  general  oversight  of  the  schools 
in  their  districts.  They  must  approve  the  removal  of  teachers 
before  the  same  can  take  effect,  and  countersign  all  bills  and 
pay  rolls.  They  serve  as  an  advisory  branch  of  the  local 
Boards.  The  Board  of  Education  is  the  legislative  body  which 
regulates  and  supervises  the  whole. 

"  The  advantages  of  this  system  can  be  easily  appreciated 
by  a  momentary  consideration  of  the  consequences  that  would 
follow  to  our  schools,  if  it  should  be  abolished,  and  the  local 
Boards  of  each  ward  or  district  should  become  the  sole  admin- 
istrators. The  attempt  to  establish  such  a  scheme  would  be  a 
premonition  of  swift  disorganization  and  decay.  .  .  . 


1 66  The  New  York  Public  School 

"The  distribution  of  powers,  duties  and  responsibilities 
among  the  Trustees  and  Inspectors  —  numbering  in  all  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  —  prevents  the  tendency  to  too  great 
power  in  a  Central  Board,  while  the  revisory  and  executive 
duties  of  the  Board  of  Education,  especially  in  its  financial 
administration,  must  act  as  a  check  to  the  too  lavish  expendi- 
ture of  money  by  the  local  Boards.  .  .  . 

"  While  the  rapid  growth  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  the 
cosmopolitan  character  of  the  population  have  rendered  impera- 
tive certain  changes  in  the  system,  the  most  important  of  which 
have  been  in  the  direction  of  development  and  expansion,  several 
experiments  have  been  made  which  were  dictated  less  by  a  true 
spirit  of  devotion  to  the  public  interests  than  by  personal  or 
party  considerations.  The  change  in  the  method  of  choosing 
the  school  officers  was  the  result  of  experience.  .  .  . 

"  A  return  to  the  system  of  district  representation  in  the 
Board  of  Education,  instead  of  the  representation  of  the  whole 
city  by  the  twenty-one  Commissioners  chosen  at  large,  is  specially 
to  be  deprecated  "  (pp.  27-31). 

The  Board  of  twenty-one  members  appointed  by  Mayor 
William  F.  Havemeyer  entered  upon  its  duties  on  April  5, 

1873- 

During  the  decade  now  under  review  several  other  laws 
of  considerable  moment  to  the  public  school  system  were 
enacted. 

The  region  north  of  the  Harlem  River,  long  known  as  the 
Annexed  District,  was  added  to  the  city  at  the  beginning  of  1874, 
becoming  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards,  and  the 
schools  in  this  territory  passed  under  the  control  of  the  Board 
of  Education,  but  without  increasing  the  number  of  its  mem- 
bers. The  New  York  school  system  was  thus  enlarged  by  the 
addition  of  eight  grammar  schools  (all  being  mixed,  or  composed 
of  both  boys  and  girls),  raising  the  number  of  grammar  schools 
to  sixty-seven,  and  six  primary  schools,  making  the  total  number 
forty-eight.  The  average  attendance  at  these  schools  in  1874 


Board  of  Education  —  i8jo  to  1880  167 

was  4130.     The  value  of  the  school  property  thus  acquired  was 
$294,500. 

The  first  law  providing  for  the  erection  and  furnishing  of 
schoolhouses  by  the  issue  of   city  bonds  was  passed  in  1871.  I 
Chapter  692  of  the  laws  of  that  year  authorized  the  expenditure 
of  $680,000  for  this  purpose,  and  provided  for  the  issue  of 
"  Public  School  Building  Fund  Stock  of  the  City  of  New  York  " 
to  that  amount.1     The  eminently  sound  principle  was  thus  intro-   \ 
duced  that  schoolhouses  should  not  be  built  with  moneys  raised  j 
by  taxation,  but  should  be  paid  for  out  of  bond  issues,  so  that 
subsequent  generations,  which  enjoy  their   use,   may  pay  for 
them  in  part. 

The  first  Compulsory  Education  Law  was  passed  in  1874,  lj 
to  take  effect  January  i,  1875,  entitled  "An  act  to  secure  to 
children  the  benefits  of  elementary  education."  2  In  pursuance 
of  this  enactment,  rules  and  regulations  were  adopted  by  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  duly  approved  by  a  Justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  A  Supervisor  of  Truancy  and  eleven  truancy 
agents  were  appointed,  at  an  expense,  according  to  the  Annual 
Report  of  1875,  of  $17,350.  The  law  proved  to  be  defective  in 
many  respects,  and,  although  amended  in  1876,  City  Super- 
intendent Kiddle,  in  his  report  for  that  year,  declared  that 
the  results  were  not  "at  all  commensurate  with  the  expense 
incurred  "  (p.  169);  and  in  1877  he  reported  that  "  as  a  compul- 
sory attendance  law  the  amount  of  good  it  has  accomplished  is 
of  very  little  importance"  (p.  178).  The  first  Supervisor  of 
Truancy,  Alexander  M.  Stanton,  in  his  first  annual  report, 
recommended  the  establishment  of  a  truant  school  and  home ; 

1  The  same  act  provided  for  the  issue  of  "  Normal  School  Fund  Stock  of  the 
City  of  New  York,"  to  the  amount  of  $200,000,  for  the  erection  of  a  building  for  the 
Normal  College. 

2  The  record  would  be  incomplete  without  mention  of  the  "act  to  provide  for  the 
care  and  instruction  of  idle  and  truant  children"  passed  April  23,  1853,  of  which  the 
Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education  for  1857  said:  "The  law  of  1853  was  one 
of  the  most  beneficent  and  philanthropic  acts   ever  passed,  but  our  city  authorities 
have  allowed  it  to  lie  dead  on  the  Statute  Book  "  (pp.  28,  29). 


1 68  The  New  York  Public  School 

repeated  recommendations  of  the  same  nature  were  made,  but 
the  suggestion  was  not  put  into  practical  effect  for  more  than 
twenty  years. 

A  law  enacted  in  1873  provided  for  the  establishment  and 
maintenance  by  the  Board  of  Education  of  a  Nautical  School 
"  for  the  education  and  training  of  pupils  in  the  service  and 
practice  of  navigation."  Authority  having  been  given  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  by  an  act  passed  by  Congress  June  20, 
1874,  to  loan  a  ship  for  the  use  of  such  a  school,  application 
was  made  to  the  Navy  Department  by  Governor  John  A.  Dix, 
and  the  sloop-of-war  St.  Mary's  was  assigned  for  the  purpose. 
The  St.  Mary's  was  delivered  to  the  Board  of  Education  Decem- 
ber 10,  1874,  and  the  first  pupils  were  received  January  n,  1875. 
The  first  Superintendent  of  the  Nautical  School  was  Comman- 1 
der  Robert  L.  Phythian,  U.S.N.  The  St.  Mary's  has  been 
used  continuously  since  1875  for  Nautical  School  purposes,  and, 
as  a  rule,  makes  a  summer  cruise  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
with  a  hundred  or  more  boys  on  board. 

A  step  of  great  importance  in  the  internal  management  of 
the  schools  was  taken  in  1869,  when  a  by-law  was  adopted  pro- 
hibiting corporal  punishment  in  all  the  schools  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1870.  Punishment  of  this  character  had 
previously  been  forbidden  in  all  girls'  and  primary  schools  and 
departments,  and  the  by-laws  provided  that  in  the  boys'  gram- 
mar departments  it  should  be  inflicted  only  by  the  principal,  or 
in  his  absence  by  the  vice-principal,  "  on  proof  of  flagrant  and 
persistent  misconduct,  after  all  reasonable  efforts  to  reform  the 
offender  shall  have  been  made."  Many  principals  who  might 
have  acted  under  this  provision  declined  to  do  so ;  and  City 
Superintendent  Randall,  as  early  as  1867,  favored  the  entire 
abolition  of  the  rod.  After  the  new  rule  went  into  effect,  how- 
ever, Superintendent  Kiddle,  in  his  report  for  1872,  urged  that 
principals  be  reinvested  "  with  the  right  to  inflict,  under  proper 
regulations  and  restrictions,  corporal  punishment  upon  those 
pupils  who  show  themselves  amenable  to  no  other  influence" 


Board  of  Education  — 1870  to  1880  169 

(p.  192).  He  repeated  this  recommendation  in  1873,  and  was 
supported  by  a  committee  of  the  Board  of  Education  which,  in 
that  year,  investigated  the  matter  and  submitted  a  unanimous 
report  in  favor  of  restoring  corporal  punishment.  The  com- 
mittee's report  was  not  adopted,  and  the  Board  has  never  re- 
treated from  the  position  which  it  took  in  1869.  The  Annual 
Report  for  1878,  in  referring  to  this  subject,  said:  "The  aboli- 
tion of  corporal  punishment,  about  eight  years  ago,  introduced 
several  changes  in  the  modes  of  coercion  employed  by  the 
teachers ;  and  many  feared  that  the  schools  would  soon  show  a 
deterioration  in  that  excellence  of  order  for  which  at  that  time 
they  were  distinguished.  As  far  as  can  be  ascertained,  they 
show,  however,  at  the  present  time,  a  still  greater  degree  of 
excellence,  at  any  rate  in  all  the  external  indications  of  efficiency 
in  this  respect "  (p.  45). 

An  increase  of  about  twenty  per  cent,  in  'the  salaries  of 
teachers  was  made  in  1872.  Says  the  Annual  Report  of  the 
Board  for  that  year: 

"  Acting,  however,  upon  what  they  deemed  a  just  and  wise  policy,  en- 
forced by  the  repeated  application  of  the  several  grades  of  teachers,  the  Board 
in  April  increased  the  salaries,  by  fixing  a  maximum  of  $3000  for  all  male 
Principals,  and  $2500  for  all  male  Vice-Principals  ;  and  for  female  Principals 
of  Grammar  Schools  a  maximum  advance,  depending  on  the  average  attend- 
ance of  pupils,  to  $2006,  and  Vice-Principals  of  the  same  a  maximum  advance 
to  $1298  ;  Principals  of  Primaries  an  advance  to  a  maximum  of  $1800,  and 
Vice-Principals  of  the  same  $1200.  The  average  of  the  salaries  of  Assistants 
was  for  the  males  advanced  to  $1652,  for  the  females  in  Male  Departments  to 
$850,  for  the  Assistants  in  the  female  Grammar  Departments  to  $767,  and  for 
the  Assistants  in  the  Primaries  $600  —  a  general  advance  of  about  twenty  per 
cent,  upon  the  salaries  of  the  previous  year"  (pp.  29,  30). 

Owing  to  the  hard  times  prevailing  in  1877,  the  Board  of 
Education  reduced  the  salaries  of  all  its  employees  about  three 
and  one-half  per  cent. 

The  salary  schedule  in  force  in  1880  may  be  summarized  as 
follows : 


170  The  New  York  Public  School 

Boys'  departments  —  Principals,  from  $2250  to  $3000  ;   vice-principals, 
1800   to   $2000  ;    men  assistants,  $1500  to  $1700  ;   women  assistants,  an 
average  not  exceeding  $800. 

Girls1  departments  —  Principals,  from  $1200  to  $1700  ;  vice-principals, 
$1000  to  $1200  ;  assistants,  an  average  of  $725. 

Primary  departments  and  schools —Principals,  $1000  to  $1700;  vice- 
principals,  $850  to  $1200  ;  assistants,  an  average  of  $600. 

Mixed  grammar  schools  —  Women  first  assistants  teaching  the  first  gram- 
mar grade  alone  or  in  connection  with  other  grades,  boys  and  girls;  being 
instructed  in  the  same  class,  and  no  male  assistant  being  employed,  $1200. 

Principals  of  fourteen  years'  standing,  if  approved  by  a  majority  vote  of  all 
the  members  of  the  Board  of  Education,  received  salaries  as  follows ; 

Boys'  departments,  $2500  ;  girls'  departments,  $1900  ;  primary  depart^" 
ments  and  schools,  $1750. 

Special  teachers  —  Drawing,  $2  per  hour  ;  music,  German,  and  French, 
$1.50  per  hour. 

Evening  schools  (per  night)  —  Men  principals,  $4  ;  men  assistants,  $2.50 ; 
women  teachers,  $3  ;  women  assistants,  $2  ;  principal  of  the  evening  high 
school,  $8.50  ;  teachers  in  the  evening  high  school,  $5.  -  ^ 

r 

The  various  local  boards  of  Trustees  designated  the  salaries 
paid  to  the  several  teachers  employed  in  the  schools  of  their 
wards  in  such  manner  that  there  should  not  be  a  greater  differ- 
ence than  $100  between  the  salaries  of  any  two  successive 
grades  of  women  assistant  teachers,  or  more  than  $300  between 
any  two  successive  grades  taught  by  men. 

The  course  of  study  in  the  schools  was  extensively  revised 
in  1871,  and  again  in  1876.  In  1871  special  attention  was  given 
to  the  methods  of  object  teaching  in  the  primary  grades,  and 
penmanship  was  introduced  in  the  primary  grades  for  the  first 
time ;  in  the  grammar  grades  provision  was  made  for  giving 
more  attention  to  physical -science,  and  instruction  iiu  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  was  introduced.  In  September, 
1876,  a  new  course  of  study  was  put  into  effect,  the  Board  hav- 
ing been  criticised  for  giving  too  much  attention  to  so-called 
"  ornamental  branches  " ;  the  time  given  to  object  lessons  was 
reduced,  and  a  change  was  made  in  the  method  of  teaching 
history.  In  this  year  a  great  reduction  was  made  in  the  time 
\ 


Board  of  Education  —  1870  to  1880  171 

allowed  for  instruction  in  German  and  French.  German  was 
introduced  in  the  schools  as  an  ordinary  branch  of  study  in 
1870;  previously  both  German  and  French  had  been  elective 
studies  in  the  highest  grammar  grades. 

By  a  law  passed  in  1875  (Chapter  322)  industrial  or  free- 
hand drawing  was  required  to  be  taught  in  all  the  schools. 

The  experiment  was  made  in  1871  of  appointing  a  visiting 
physician  for  the  public  schools ;  his  duties  were  "  to  inspect 
the  sanitary  condition  of  the  school  houses,  yards,  class-rooms 
and  appurtenances;  to  prevent,  by  proper  precautions,  the 
spread  of  epidemic  diseases ;  and,  to  visit  all  teachers  who 
have  been  absent  from  class  duty  for  five  days  or  upward." 
Under  his  supervision  special  attention  was  given  to  ventila- 
tion, and  great  care  was  taken  to  secure  cleanliness  in  all  school 
buildings. 

In  1879  a  by-law  was  adopted  requiring  that  no  license 
to  teach  should  be  issued  unless  the  candidate  presented  a 
certificate  of  sound  bodily  health  from  a  physician  in  good 
standing. 

The  following  table  in  reference  to  the  cost  of  supplies  is 
taken  from  the  Annual  Report  of  1878;  it  is  preceded  by  this 
statement:  "The  expenditure  for  supplies,  delivered  through 
the  Depository,  to  the  various  schools,  janitors,  etc.,  owing  to 
the  united  efforts  of  the  Committee  on  Supplies  and  the  princi- 
pals of  the  schools,  has  been  materially  diminished  during  the 
past  seven  years  "  (p.  39) : 

Amount  expended  for  supplies  in  1872 $187,778.62 

Amount  expended  for  supplies  in  1873 179,207.89 

Amount  expended  for  supplies  in  1874 171,78442 

Amount  expended  for  supplies  in  1875 J  62,843. 77 

Amount  expended  for  supplies  in  1876  .....  163.514.58 

Amount  expended  for  supplies  in  1877 155,221.74 

Amount  expended  for  supplies  in  1878 120,204.18 

The  Annual  Report  for  1875  stated  that  the  total  amount 
paid  for  sites  during  the  previous  nine  years  was  $408,700. 


172 


The  New  York  Public  School 
COMPARISON  BETWEEN  1870  AND  1880 


1870 

1880 

Grammar  schools  for  boys      
Grammar  schools  for  girls      
Grammar  schools  mixed  (boys  and  girls) 
Primary  schools  and  departments     . 
Colored  schools 

42 

43 
5 
94 
6 

46 

45 

12 
114 

Total 

TQO 

22^ 

Whole  number  of  pupils  taught  .... 
Average  attendance  

iy\_i 
194,539 

81,307 

220,331 
1  12,627 

Number  of  teachers  

2,4.07 

•3,2Q2 

Salaries  of  teachers  .... 

$1.670,620.71 

$2.34.6  I4.I   31 

Total  expenditures   ...          . 

2  733.  SQI  c;8 

3  223  Q4.8  72 

Cost  of  books  and  supplies  through  the 
Depository  . 

*">i  jjoy^o" 

131  74.7  C  C 

12  C  337  3Q 

Value  of  school  sites  and  buildings  . 

1  J1>/'+/  •  33 

8,596,000.00 

i^jijj/  'Jy 
10,365,800.00 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD — 1870  TO  1880 

President 

Richard  L.  Larremore  * 1870  (to  July  ist) 

Bernard  Smyth  * 1870  (from  July  ist)-i 872 

Josiah  G.  Holland  * 1873  (to  April  5th) 

William  H.  Neilson  * 1873  (from  April  7th)-i  875 

William  Wood1 1876-1879 

Stephen  A.  Walker1 1880 


Clerk 


William  Hitchman1 
Lawrence  D.  Kiernan1  . 


.     1870  (to  May  4th) 

.     1870  (from  May  4th)-i88o 


Superintendent  of  School  Buildings 

AmnonMacvey1 1870,1871 

David  I.  Stagg1      .        .        .        .        .        .     1872-1880 

Auditor 
John  Davenport x 1870-1880 

1  Deceased. 


Board  of  Education  —  1870  to  1880  173 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 

Samuel  S.  Randall  x        .....     1870  (to  June  1st) 

Henry  Kiddle1       ......     1870  (from  June  ist)-i  879 

(to  October  ist) 
John  Jasper    .......     1879  (from  October  ist),  1880 

Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools 

Thomas  F.  Harrison  *     .....  1870-1880 

John  H.  Fanning1  ......  1870-1880 

Norman  A.  Calkins  x       .....  1870-1880 

William  Jones  x       ......  1870-1880 

Arthur  McMullin    ......  1872-1880 

John  Jasper    .......  1872-1879  (to  October  1st) 

Alexander  J.  Schem1      .....  1874-1880 

James  Godwin        ......  1879, 


Superintendent  of  Truancy 

Alexander  M.  Stanton    .....     1875,  l876 
William  Kemeys    ......     1877-1880 

1  Deceased. 


CHAPTER  XXI 
BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  — 1880  TO   1890 

(j.T  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  ninth  decade  of  the  last  century 
was  the  only  one,  after  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion in  1842,  in  which  no  legislation  was  enacted  effecting 
sweeping  changes  in  the  school  system  or  its  management.  In 
1851  an  important  law  was  passed,  which  provided  for  the 
school  system  substantially  as  it  has  existed  for  more  than  half 
a, century ;  and  in  1853  the  Public  School  Society  was  by  an  act 
of  the  Legislature  merged  into  the  Board  of  Education.  In 
1864  the  district  system  was  established,  and  the  Board  of 
forty-four  members  reduced  to  twenty-one.  The  district  system 
was  overthrown  in  1869,  and  a  Board  of  twelve  members,  ap- 
pointed by  the  Mayor,  placed  in  charge ;  but  the  law  providing 
for  the  election  of  twelve  Commissioners  was  repealed  before 
any  election  was  held.  In  1871  the  Board  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion was  established,  consisting  of  twelve  members  named  by 
the  Mayor,  who  was  also  authorized  to  appoint  both  Inspectors 
and  Trustees.  Finally,  a  Board  of  twenty-one  Commissioners, 
appointed  by  the  Mayor,  was  created  in  1873,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  Trustees  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  Board.  There 
was  no  further  legislation  affecting  the  composition  of  the  Board 
of  Education  for  nearly  twenty-five  years.  \ 

The  years  from  1880  to  1890  were  peaceful,  and  were 
marked  by  the  steady  expansion  of  the  school  system,  without 
violent  changes  or  transitions.  A  number  of  laws  were  passed, 
however,  which  enabled  the  school  authorities  to  do  their  work 
more  efficiently,  and  some  of  which  marked  important  stages  in 
the  development  of  popular  education  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

174 


Board  of  Education  — 1880  to  1890  1 75 

Viewed  by  results,  the  first  place  should  doubtless  be  given 
to  a  brief  [ law  passed  in  1888  authorizing  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation to  establish  and  maintain  free  lectures  for  working 
men  and  working  women.  )  The  first  steps  were  taken  by  the 
Board  in  that  year,  and  an  appropriation  of  $15,000  to  carry  on 
the  work  during  the  following  year  was  obtained/  In  1889 
lectures  were  given  in  seven  school  buildings,  the  principal 
subjects  treated  being  elementary  chemistry,  electricity,  physi- 
ology, hygiene,  chemistry  and  analysis  of  food  and  drink,  sani- 
tation, elocution,  poetry,  astronomy,  American  history,  and 
elementary  principles  of  law]  "It  is  the  object  of  these  lec- 
tures," said  the  Annual  Report  for  the  year  mentioned,  "to 
disseminate  useful  knowledge  among  people,  who,  but  for  this 
means  of  instruction,  would  never  become  familiar  with  or  even 
aware  of  some  of  the  most  important,  yet  simple  scientific  princi- 
ples and  facts  bearing  upon  actual  daily  life,  health  and  happi- 
ness. .  .  .  The  lectures  have  been  fairly  well  received  and 
attended  by  the  public,  and  much  interest  has  been  shown  by 
the  audiences.  When  the  lectures  become  more  widely  known, 
their  usefulness  more  fully  realized,  and  the  various  small  diffi- 
culties which  have  appeared  shall  have  been  removed,  it  is 
anticipated  that  much  greater  results  will  be  obtained  "  (pp. 
46,  47)-1 

In  1890  two  courses  of  lectures  were  delivered — the  first  in 
February  and  March,  the  second  in  November  and  December. 
In  the  first  course  there  were  182  lectures  in  seven  schoolhouses, 
and  the  total  attendance  was  i6,o85.2  In  the  second  course 
there  were  but  54  lectures  in  six  school  buildings ;  the  total 
attendance  was  23,995,  and  the  average  for  each  lecture  445. 
The  Annual  Report  for  1890,  referring  to  this  marked  change 
and  to  the  appointment  of  a  Superintendent  to  take  charge  of 

1  No  statistics  regarding  the  lectures  in  1889  are  given  in  the  report. 

2  The  Annual  Report  for  1890  (p.  37)  gives  the  average  attendance  at  each 
lecture  as  78.     It  is  noticeable  that  the  first  lecture  delivered  in   Grammar  School 
67  was  attended  by  seven  persons. 


1 76  The  New  York  Public  School 

the  work,  said  :  "  The  lectures  in  November  and  December 
were  delivered  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Henry  M.  Leipziger. 
The  attendance  at  these  lectures  for  the  months  of  February 
and  March  was  not  satisfactory,  the  lack  of  success  being,  no 
doubt,  due  to  the  fact  that  a  special  superintendent  of  the  same 
had  not  been  appointed  "  (p.  36). 

In  1884  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  (Chapter  458) 
providing  for  the  issue  of  schoolhouse  bonds  to  the  amount  of 
$2,000,000  for  new  school  sites  and  buildings ;  but  the  consti- 
tutional amendment  adopted  in  that  year,  limiting  the  amount 
of  indebtedness  to  be  incurred  by  cities,  prevented  the  Board  of 
Education  from  realizing  the  full  benefit  of  the  act,  only  $332,000 
having  been  issued  before  January  i,  1885,  when  the  amend- 
ment went  into  effect.  No  provision  having  been  made  for 
funds  for  building  purposes  from  any  other  source,  the  Board 
had  no  resources  available  during  1885,  and  no  new  buildings 
were  begun  in  that  year.  In  1886,  in  consequence  of  a  decision 
by  the  Court  of  Appeals  and  another  act  of  the  Legislature, 
bonds  to  the  amount  of  $484,584.74  were  issued.  Chapter  458 
of  the  laws  of  1884  was  amended  in  1885,  and  again  in  1886, 
and  the  balance  of  the  bond  issue  authorized  was  sold  in  the 
three  years  following.  In  1888  a  second  bond  issue  of  $2,000,000 
was  authorized  by  law  (Chapter  136),  and  a  third  issue  to  the 
same  amount  was  authorized  by  Chapter  252  of  the  laws  of 
1889.  The  resources  thus  provided  enabled  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation to  build  many  schoolhouses  in  the  hope  of  meeting  the 
demands  of  the  rapidly  increasing  school  population. 

The  difficulty  of  securing  sites  promptly  when  needed,  at 
reasonable  prices,  had  been  a  source  of  embarrassment  for  some 
time,  and  in  1887  the  Board  applied  to  the  Legislature  for  aid, 
and  obtained  the  passage  of  a  law  enabling  it  to  acquire  sites 
through  condemnation  proceedings. 

During  the  period  under  review  the  number  of  evening  high 
schools  was  increased  to  four.  The  original  school  of  this  char- 
acter, established  in  1866,  became  known  as  the  New  York 


Board  of  Education  — 1880  to  1890  177 

Evening  High  School ;  the  East  Side  School  was  opened  in 
1887,  the  Harlem  in  1888,  and  the  Central  in  1890. 

The  system  of  evening  elementary  schools  was  modified  in 
1880,  when  schools  for  juniors  and  schools  for  seniors  were 
provided,  the  former  for  pupils  between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and 
eighteen,  while  to  the  latter  no  one  under  sixteen  was  admitted. 

As  early  as  1880  attention  was  called  to  the  decreasing 
attendance  at  the  schools  for  colored  children.  At  this  time 
there  were  three  schools  for  negroes,  containing  both  grammar 
and  primary  departments.  The  Annual  Report  for  1880  fore- 
shadowed the  "  gradual  absorption  "  by  the  public  schools  gen- 
erally of  this  separate  class  of  schools,  owing  to  the  fact  that, 
by  law,  all  the  public  schools  were  now  open  to  pupils  without 
distinction  of  color.1  The  average  attendance  at  the  so-called 
colored  schools  in  this  year  was  571  —  104  less  than  in  1879  and 
287  less  than  in  1878.  In  1883  the  average  attendance  was  443, 
and  in  that  year  the  Board  of  Education  decided  to  disestablish 
the  three  separate  colored  schools ;  the  date  first  fixed,  Septem- 
ber i,  1883,  was  subsequently  changed  to  September  i,  1884. 
One  of  the  schools,  however,  was  closed  on  the  first-mentioned 
date.  In  the  mean  time,  in  response  to  an  appeal  made  by 
colored  citizens,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Legislature  (May  5, 
1884)  prohibiting  the  abolition  of  the  two  remaining  schools, 
turning  them  over  to  the  control  of  the  Trustees  of  the  wards 
in  which  they  were  situated,  and  providing  that  they  should  be 
"  open  for  the  education  of  pupils  for  whom  admission  is  sought, 
without  regard  to  race  or  color."  The  two  schools  were 
thenceforth  designated  as  Grammar  Schools  80  and  81.  On 
this  subject  a  passage  from  the  Annual  Report  for  1884  is 
pertinent : 

"  After  an  existence  of  over  ninety-seven  years,  the  colored  schools  of  this 
city,  as  a  distinct  and  peculiar  feature  of  our  system,  have  at  length  been  dis- 
established. They  were  founded  by  the  Manumission  Society,  and  were  con- 
veyed to  the  late  Public  School  Society  in  1834,  and  by  the  latter  conveyed  to 

1  See  Chapter  186,  Laws  of  1873. 


1 78  The  New  York  Public  School 

this  Board  at  the  time  of  the  consolidation  in  1853.  .  .  .  The  causes  which 
led  to  the  establishment  of  colored  schools  having  ceased  to  exist,  except  as  a 
matter  of  history,  all  legislation  with  reference  to  the  establishment  and  main- 
tenance of  such  schools  has  thus  at  last  been  repealed,  and  the  color  line  has 
finally  and  happily  disappeared  from  our  schools,  except  so  far  as  it  may  be 
said  to  remain  in  the  case  of  the  two  schools  referred  to  [Nos.  80  and  81]. 
The  colored  children  who  are  in  attendance  upon  Nos.  80  and  81  are  but  a 
small  minority  of  the  whole  number  of  colored  children  who  avail  themselves 
of  our  system  and  attend  the  schools  throughout  the  city  in  common  with 
whites,  between  whom  and  the  colored  children  no  distinction  whatever  is 
made ;  and  in  the  opinion  of  this  Board  it  will  be  to  the  advantage  of  the  sys- 
tem, and  of  the  colored  scholars  themselves,  to  assimilate  Nos.  80  and  81,  in 
practice  as  well  as  in  theory,  to  the  other  Grammar  Schools,  at  the  earliest 
practicable  date"  (pp.  52,  53). 

The  last  part  of  the  decade  was  marked  by  an  innovation  of 
some  significance,  viz.,  the  appointment,  for  the  first  time,  of 
women  as  members  of  the  Board  of  Education.  Two  women 
were  appointed  in  1886,  taking  office  January  i,  1887  (one  of 
whom  was  reappointed  three  years  later),  one  was  appointed  in 
1888,  and  two  appointments  were  made  in  1889,  so  that  for  six 
years,  from  1887  to  1892,  women  sat  in  the  Board  and  served 
on  its  committees.1 

Much  attention  was  given  to  the  course  of  study  throughout 
the  period  with  which  we  are  dealing,  and  for  several  years, 
beginning  with  1884,  the  question  of  industrial  or  manual  train- 
ing was  a  prominent  topic  before  the  Board  of  Education.  In 
1885,  1886,  and  1887  a  thorough  investigation  was  made  by 
committees  of  the  Board,  assisted  by  the  City  Superintendent 
of  Schools.  In  the  last-named  year  it  was  decided  by  a  unani- 
mous vote  of  the  Board  to  make  the  experiment  of  introducing 
modelling  in  clay,  construction  work  in  paper,  pasteboard,  and 
other  suitable  materials,  and  drawing  to  scale  for  boys  and  girls, 

1  The  first  appointments  were  made  by  Mayor  William  R.  Grace.  The  women 
who  served  on  the  Board  of  Education  were  Mrs.  Mary  N.  Agnew,  Miss  Grace  H. 
Dodge,  Mrs.  Sarah  H.  Powell,  and  Mrs.  Clara  M.  Williams.  It  may  be  noted  here 
that  in  1895  fourteen  women  and  in  1896  forty -five  women  were  appointed  as  School 
Inspectors  by  Mayor  Strong. 


Board  of  Education  — 1880  to  1890  1 79 

carpenter  work  or  the  use  of  wood-working  tools  for  boys,  and 
sewing  and  cooking  for  girls  ;  and  in  1888  a  manual  training 
course  of  study  was  adopted  in  four  boys'  departments,  five  girls' 
departments,  and  eleven  primary  departments  and  schools.  On 
December  31,  1890,  there  were  19,476  pupils  pursuing  the 
manual  training  course  of  study,  in  seven  boys'  grammar  de- 
partments, eight  girls'  grammar  departments,  one  mixed  gram- 
mar department,  thirteen  primary  departments,  and  eight 
primary  schools. 

On  February  i,  1890,  a  new  general  course  of  study  was 
put  into  effect,  being  based  on  the  manual  training  course,  with 
the  omission  of  wood-working,  of  instruction  in  clay  modelling, 
of  cooking,  and  of  obligatory  instruction  in  sewing  in  the  gram- 
mar schools  for  girls,  sewing  being  made  permissible  in  those 
schools. 

In  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  State  law,  provi- 
sion was  made  in  1885  for  instruction  in  physiology  and  hygiene, 
"  with  special  reference  to  the  effects  of  alcoholic  drinks,  stimu- 
lants and  narcotics  upon  the  human  system."  1 

For  a  number  of  years  prior  to  1885  the  salaries  of  teachers 
were  apportioned  by  the  Trustees  upon  a  basis  fixed  by  the 
Board  of  Education,  but  without  anything  approaching  uni- 
formity in  the  twenty-four  wards.  The  unequal  distribution 
caused  dissatisfaction  and  led  to  numerous  appeals  and  pro- 
tests. The  salary  question  became  the  subject  of  serious  and 
prolonged  investigation  beginning  in  1883,  resulting  in  1885  in 
the  adoption  for  the  first  time  of  a  uniform  schedule,  which 
went  into  effect  on  January  i,  1886;  salaries  were  based  on  the 
position  or  numerical  rank  of  each  teacher  in  his  or  her  school, 
recognition  being  given  only  to  length  of  service  and  merit. 
The  incidental  result  was  a  very  small  average  advance  in  the 
pay  of  grammar  school  teachers,  and  an  increase  somewhat 

1  The  financial  statement  of  the  Board  for  1896  shows  the  expenditure  of 
$24,285.16  for  the  purchase  during  that  year  of  text-books  treating  of  alcoholic 
drinks,  etc. 


i8o  The  New  York  Public  School 

larger  for  teachers  in  the  primary  grades.  The  maximum  and 
minimum  salaries  as  fixed  by  the  schedule  adopted  were  as 
follows : 

Boys'  and  mixed  grammar  schools  —  Principals,  $2250  to  $3000;  vice- 
principals,  $1800  to  $2000. 

Girls'  grammar  schools  —  Principals,  $1200  to  $1700;  vice-principals, 
$1000  to  $1200. 

Primary  schools  and  departments  —  Principals,  $1000  to  $1700;  vice- 
principals,  $850  to  $1200. 

Men  assistant  teachers  —  $1080  to  $2016. 

Women  assistant  teachers  —  Boys'  grammar  schools,  $633  to  $1116; 
mixed  grammar  schools,  $603  to  $1086;  girls'  grammar  schools,  $573  to 
$1056;  primary  departments  and  schools,  $504  to  $900. 

The  tenure  of  office  of  teachers  in  New  York  had  in  the 
course  of  years  become  substantially  stable,  once  a  permanent 
license  was  secured  from  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools 
(and  this  was  granted  after  six  months'  satisfactory  experience 
in  actual  teaching),  although  a  license  might  be  revoked  for 
cause  affecting  the  morality  or  competency  of  a  teacher.  A 
teacher  could  be  removed  by  the  Board  of  Education  upon  the 
recommendation  of  the  City  Superintendent,  or  of  a  majority  of 
the  Trustees  of  the  ward,  or  of  a  majority  of  the  Inspectors  of 
the  district,  but  only  by  a  vote  of  three-fourths  of  all  the  members 
of  the  Board.  The  Trustees  also  had  power  to  remove  teachers 
other  than  principals  and  vice-principals,  by  a  majority  vote,  with 
the  approval  of  the  Inspectors  of  the  district,  but  a  teacher  so 
removed  had  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Board  of  Education.1 

About  the  beginning  of  1880  by-laws  were  adopted  regu- 
lating the  absences  of  teachers  and  prescribing  the  conditions 
requisite  for  excusing  absence  with  pay.  This  was  a  reform  of 
importance,  as  theretofore  "  excuses  for  absence  with  full  pay 
were  entirely  in  the  discretion  of  the  Board,  without  any  condi- 
tions as  to  time  or  cause,  and,  as  a  consequence,  a  sort  of  pen- 
sion system  was  established,  not  at  all  contemplated  by  law."  2 

1  See  New  York  City  Consolidation  Act  of  1882,  sections  1042  and  1038. 

2  Annual  Report,  1880,  p.  38. 


Board  of  Education  — 1880  to  1890  1 8 1 

The  enforcement  of  the  Compulsory  Education  Law  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  City  Superintendent  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1 88 1,  the  position  of  Superintendent  of  Truancy  being 
discontinued.  At  that  time  eleven  agents  of  truancy  were 
employed ;  in  1890  the  number  of  such  agents  was  twelve. 

A  stringent  by-law  on  the  subject  of  contagious  diseases 
was  adopted  early  in  1881,  providing  that  children  residing  in  \ 
premises  where  a  contagious  disease  existed  must  absent  them- 
selves from  school  while  the  contagion  continued,  and  could  be 
readmitted  only  after  the  premises  had  been  thoroughly  dis- 
infected. 

The  Saturday  Normal  School  was  discontinued  in  1880,  it 
being  no  longer  deemed  necessary  on  account  of  the  extension 
of  the  Normal  College  course  to  include  a  fourth  year.  In 
1888  the  Normal  College  was  regularly  incorporated  by  an  act 
of  the  Legislature,  and  placed  under  the  control  of  a  Board  of 
Trustees  consisting  of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Education 
and  the  President  of  the  College,  and  having  substantially  the 
same  powers  as  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York. 

An  interesting  incident  of  the  year  1889  was  the  participa- 
tion of  the  children  attending  the  public  schools  in  the  exercises 
marking  the  centenary  of  the  inauguration  of  the  first  President 
of  the  United  States.  On  the  morning  of  April  29th  each 
school  and  department  was  thrown  open  to  the  pupils'  parents 
and  friends,  so  that  they  might  attend  the  exercises  appropriate 
to  the  day.  On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  two  representatives 
from  each  girls'  grammar  department  assisted  in  the  reception 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  at  the  City  Hall,  in  which 
a  delegation  of  students  from  the  Normal  College  also  took 
part.  The  chief  event  was  the  appearance  of  four  thousand 
boys  from  the  grammar  schools  in  the  Civic  and  Industrial 
Parade  on  the  1st  of  May,  each  department  having  a  represen- 
tation proportionate  to  the  number  of  pupils  registered.  The 
boys  conducted  themselves  with  great  credit,  and,  by  the  unani- 


182 


The  New  York  Public  School 


mous  decision  of  fifty  skilled  judges,  the  gold  medal  for  fine 
bearing  and  compliance  with  orders  was  awarded  to  the  public 
schools. 

COMPARISON  BETWEEN  1880  AND  1890 


1880 

1890 

Grammar  schools  for  boys    
Grammar  schools  for  girls     

46 

4.C 

46 
48 

Grammar  schools,  mixed  (boys  and  girls)  . 
Primary  schools  and  departments  .... 
Colored  schools                      •••••• 

12 
114 

14 
1  2O 

o 

Total  

222 

228 

Whole  number  of  pupils  taught     .... 

220,331 
112,627 

257,561 
136  670 

3.2Q2 

3r  T7 

$2,346,  1  41.  3  1 

O1/ 

$2,037,246.61; 

3,223,048.72 

4,060,1;  80.  271 

Cost  of  books  and  supplies  through   the 
Depository       .     •          •     .          .... 

I2C  737  3Q 

l67  1  14  37 

Value  of  school  sites  and  buildings    .    .     . 

^iOj/'jy 
10,365,800.00 

15,524,000.00 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1880  TO  1890 

President 

Stephen  A.  Walker2 1880-1886  (to  March  4th) 

J.  Edward  Simmons 1886  (from  March   I7th)-i8cp 

(to  July  2d) 
John  L.  N.  Hunt 1890  (from  July  2d) 

Clerk 

Lawrence  D.  Kiernan  2 1880-1886  (to  June  23d) 

Arthur  McMullin 1886  (from  October  6th)-i89O 

Superintendent  of  School  Buildings 

David  I.  Stagg2 1880-1886  (to  May  nth) 

George  W.  Debevoise 1886  (from  June  9th) -1890 


1  Not  including  expenditures  on  bond  account,  which  amounted  to  $1,653,  520.13. 

2  Deceased. 


Board  of  Education  — 1880  to  1890  183 

Auditor 

John  Davenport1 1880-1889  (to  March  6th) 

George  T.  Balch1 1889,  1890 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 
John  Jasper 1880-1890 

Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools 

Thomas  F.  Harrison1  .        .        .        .  1880-1888  (to  March  1st) 

John  H.  Fanning1 1880-1890  (to  June  26th) 

Norman  A.  Calkins  J 1880-1890 

William  Jones x     ......  1880-1890 

Arthur  McMullin 1880-1886  (to  October  6th) 

Alexander  J.  Schem  J 1880,  1 88 1  (to  May  21  st) 

James  Godwin 1880-1890 

Paul  Hoffman1 1881-1890 

Anthony  A.  Griffin1 1886-1889  (to  September  21  st) 

George  S.  Davis 1888  (from  March  215^-1890 

Henry  W.  Jameson 1890 

Counsel  to  the  Board 
Rufus  G.  Beardslee1 1888-1890 

1  Deceased. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
BOARD   OF  EDUCATION  — 1890  TO   1897 

THE  present  chapter  covers  only  the  period  from  1890  to 
C  1 897,  for  the  reason  that  in  the  last-named  year  the  act  establish- 
ing Greater  New  York  was  passed,  in  consequence  of  which 
extensive  changes  in  the  school  system  took  place  at  the  begin- 
ning of  iSg8})oTy  to  be  exact,  on  the  ist  of  February.  Although 
the  period  to  be  reviewed  is  less  than  a  decade,  several  far- 
reaching  laws  in  reference  to  the  schools  were  enacted  and 
numerous  improvements  in  the  system  introduced. 

\  It  has  already  appeared  in  the  course  of  this  history  from 
1842,  the  year  of  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
that  the  ward  Trustees  were  very  important  school  officers,  hav- 
ing charge  of  the  appointment  of  teachers  (excepting  principals 
and  vice-principals),  the  erection  and  repair  of  buildings,  the 
custody  and  management  of  school  property,  etc.  Elected  by 
the  people  for  many  years,  the  Trustees  were,  under  the  short- 
lived act  of  1871,  appointed  by  the  Mayor;  but  after  the  pas- 
sage of  the  law  of  1873  the  appointments  of  Trustees  were  made 
by  the  Board  of  Education,  which  was,  of  course,  responsible 
for  the  character  of  the  men  selected.  The  official  reports  of 
the  Board  of  Education  repeatedly  speak  in  warm  terms  of  the 
work  of  the  Trustees!:  and  the  following  extract  from  the  Annual 
Report  for  1884  may,  perhaps,  be  accepted  as  expressing  the 
views  of  most  of  the  people  connected  with  the  school  system 
at  that  time  and  for  the  ensuing  dozen  years : 

"  Subordinate  to  this  Board  there  are  twenty-four  Boards  of 
School  Trustees,  consisting  each  of  five  members,  whose  term 
of  office  is  five  years,  one  member  of  each  Board  going  out  of 


ry 


Board  of  Education  — 1890  to  1897  185 


office  annually,  the  vacancy  thus  created  being  filled  by  appoint- 
ments made  by  the  Board  of  Education.  The  primary  responsi- 
bility of  the  condition  of  the  management  of  the  schools  in  the 
several  Wards  rests  upon  these  Boards  of  Trustees,  who  have 
immediate  management  and  control  of  all  school  property,  and 
who  appoint  all  teachers  not  principals,  and  who  apportion  the 
moneys  appropriated  to  their  several  wards  among  the  schools 
in  such  wards,  and  among  the  teachers  in  each  school.  It  may 
be  said  that  the  administrative  character  of  the  system  depends 
more  largely  upon  the  character  of  the  Boards  of  Trustees  than 
upon  any  other  single  fact.  In  order  that  the  men  most  thor- 
oughly qualified,  most  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  system,  and 
most  likely  to  devote  their  time  and  attention  to  the  work  re- 
quired by  these  offices  should  be  obtained  for  service  of  School 
Trustees,  this  Board  has  spared  no  pains  and  has  left  nothing 
undone  to  secure  the  appointment  of  the  fittest  persons  whom 
they  can  find  able  and  willing  to  perform  the  very  responsible 
duties  of  these  positions.  We  feel  justified  in  claiming  for  the 
several  Boards  of  Trustees  in  this  city  the  highest  confidence 
of  the  people  of  their  several  wards,  and  feel  called  upon  to 
acknowledge  the  eminent  value  of  their  service,  and  the  most 
excellent  help  which  they  have  continuously  rendered  to  this 
Board  in  the  performance  of  its  duties  and  in  the  perfection  of 
the  details  of  the  school  system"  (pp.  56,  57). 

Nevertheless  this  feature  of  the  system  was,  a  few  years 
later,  mercilessly  criticised  by  many  persons  deeply  interested 
in  the  welfare  of  the  schools.)  They  denounced  the  Trustees 
as  an  incubus  that  prevented  New  York  from  taking  its  rightful 
position  in  the  educational  world.  They  affirmed  that  some  — 
perhaps  many  —  of  the  Trustees  were  illiterate  men,  who  se- 
cured their  places  through  political  influence ;  that  they  consid- 
ered the  appointment  of  teachers  as  so  much  "  patronage," 
which  they  dealt  out  in  turn  ;  that  they  displayed  marked  favor- 
itism in  the  promotion  of  teachers,  and  "  pulled  wires  "  in  the 
interest  of  their  favorites  ;  and  that  in  the  matter  of  repairs 


1 86  The  New  York  Public  School 

to  school  buildings,  etc.,  they  assigned  the  work  to  favored 
mechanics,  for  the  purpose  of  strengthening  their  position  with 
an  eye  to  political  preferment,  and  the  like. 

Another  ground  of  criticism,  and  plainly  a  legitimate  one, 
was  that  the  appointment  of  school  officers  by  wards  was  an 
absurdity,  as  each  ward  had  five  Trustees,  although  in  the 
downtown  section  of  the  city  the  number  of  schools  was  very 
small.  Thus,  in  1888  there  was  in  the  Second  Ward  one  school 
with  two  teachers,  and  an  average  attendance  for  that  year  of 
66 ;  in  the  Third  Ward,  one  school  with  three  teachers  and  an 
average  attendance  of  only  55.  In  the  first  six  wards,  at  that 
time,  the  number  of  teachers  was  170,  and  the  average  attend- 
ance 5547;  whereas  in  the  Twelfth  Ward  there  were  499 
teachers  and  an  average  attendance  of  21,121,  and  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Ward  450  teachers  and  an  average  attendance  of  I9,435-1 

The  result  of  this  agitation  was  the  passage  of  a  law  by  the 
Legislature  of  1893  (Chapter  532)  providing  that  the  Mayor  of 
the  city  of  New  York  should  appoint  a  Commission  to  prepare 
and  report  to  the  Legislature,  at  its  next  session,  a  comprehensive 
revision  of  the  laws  affecting  common  schools  and  public  edu- 
cation in  the  city,  including  such  alterations  in  then  existing  laws 
and  such  new  enactments  as  might  be  deemed  necessary  and  of 
advantage  to  the  schools.  The  Commission2  made  a  thorough 
investigation,  studied  the  school  laws  of  other  cities,  and  held 
public  meetings.  Its  report  was  presented  in  March,  1894, 
accompanied  by  a  bill  which  abolished  the  Inspectors  and  de- 
prived the  Trustees  of  all  powers  except  that  of  visiting  schools 
and  reporting  on  their  condition.  The  bill  made  no  change  in 
the  Board  of  Education,  beyond  vesting  in  it  some  of  the  powers 
exercised  by  the  Trustees,  while  others  of  those  powers  were 
transferred  to  a  Board  of  Superintendents,  to  consist  of  a  City 
Superintendent  and  twenty  Division  Superintendents.  A  Super- 

1  See  Annual  Report,  1888,  p.  153. 

2  It  consisted  of  E.  Ellery  Anderson,  David  McClure,  Oscar  S.  Straus,  Stephen 
H.  Olin,  and  Thomas  Hunter.     They  were  appointed  by  Mayor  Thomas  F.  Gilroy. 


Board  of  Education  — 1890  to  1897  187 

intendent  of  School  Buildings  and  Supplies  was  also  provided  for. 
All  these  officials  were  to  have  five-year  terms.  Large  powers 
were  given  to  the  Board  of  Superintendents,  which  was  to  have 
full  jurisdiction  over  courses  of  study,  to  examine  applicants 
for  licenses,  and  to  nominate  principals  and  teachers  to  the 
Board  of  Education. 

The  bill  was  duly  introduced  in  both  branches  of  the  Legis- 
lature, and  its  passage  was  unanimously  favored  by  the  Board 
of  Education ;  but  it  was  not  reported  from  committee.  In 
1895  the  bill  was  again  brought  forward,  with  some  small 
changes.  It  passed  the  Assembly,  but  was  defeated  in  the 
Senate,  its  defeat  being  secured  by  the  combined  efforts  of  the 
Trustees,  Inspectors,  and  teachers  of  the  city.  At  the  session 
of  1896  the  bill  was  once  more  introduced.  As  an  offset, 
another  bill  was  proposed  which  retained  the  Trustees  with 
substantially  unimpaired  powers,  and  this  bill  was  favored  by 
the  Board  of  Education. 

The  trustee  system  was  the  centre  around  which  the  battle 
was  waged  with  ardor  by  the  friends  of  the  existing  order,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  so-called  reform  element,  on  the  other. 
So  objectionable  was  the  very  name  "trustee"  that  the  advo- 
cates of  reform  succeeded  in  having  the  bill  amended  so  as  to 
do  away  with  the  Trustees  entirely,  and  in  that  form  it  was 
finally  passed.  School  Inspectors,  however,  were  retained,  with 
powers  of  visitation,  etc. 

While  there  were  elements  of  truth  in  the  charges  made 
against  the  Trustees,  and  while  there  were  undeniably  bad  fea- 
tures connected  with  the  trustee  system,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  many  of  the  Trustees  were  earnest  and  public-spirited  citi- 
zens, who  gave  much  time  to  the  schools  and  rendered  excellent 
service  to  the  community.  Not  a  few  men  appointed  as  mem- 
bers of  the  Board  of  Education  served  previously  for  extended 
periods  as  trustees,  thus  gaining  valuable  experience,  which 
greatly  increased  their  usefulness  when  promoted  to  be  Com- 
missioners. Although  the  trustee  system  was  by  no  means  an 


1 88  The  New  York  Public  School 

unmitigated  evil,  but  possessed  good  features  as  well  as  bad, 
doubtless  few  will  deny,  in  the  light  of  recent  educational  history 
in  this  city,  that  its  abolition  in  1896  was  a  step  forward. 

The  bill  abolishing  the  Trustees  became  Chapter  387  of  the 
laws  of  1896.  Its  most  important  feature,  after  that  just  men- 
tioned, was  the  creation  of  a  Board  of  Superintendents,  consisting 
of  the  City  Superintendent  and  as  many  Assistant  Superintend- 
ents as  the  Board  of  Education  might  deem  necessary ;  and  the 
Board  of  Superintendents  was  empowered  to  nominate  principals 
and  teachers,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
to  recommend  changes  in  the  course  of  study,  etc.  To  the 
Board  of  Superintendents  was  intrusted  the  practical  manage- 
ment of  the  schools  in  general,  only  a  veto  power  being  vested 
in  the  Board  of  Education ;  on  the  theory  that  work  of  the  char- 
acter mentioned  should  be  performed  by  experts  trained  in  peda- 
gogy and  school  methods,  while  the  Board  of  Education  should 
act,  substantially,  in  the  same  capacity  as  the  Board  of  Trustees 
of  a  college.  The  power  of  examining  and  licensing  candidates 
for  teacherships  was  lodged  in  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 
It  was  authorized  to  promote  teachers,  subject  to  rules  and 
regulations  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Education,  and  could  also 
remove  teachers  other  than  principals  and  vice-principals,  pro- 
vided such  removal  was  approved  in  writing  by  a  majority  of 
the  Inspectors  of  the  district ;  but  any  teacher  so  removed  had 
the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Board  of  Education.  The  latter 
Board  was  authorized  to  remove  any  principal,  vice-principal,  or 
other  teacher  by  a  three-fourths  vote,  upon  the  recommendation 
of  a  majority  of  the  Inspectors  of  the  district  or  upon  the  recom- 
mendation of  the  Board  of  Superintendents.  All  nominations  of 
teachers  were  required  to  be  made  from  an  eligible  list  of  those 
who  had  successfully  passed  examination. 

No  change  was  made  in  the  number  of  members  of  the 
Board  of  Education  or  in  the  manner  of  their  appointment. 
The  Board  was  authorized  to  divide  the  city  into  not  less  than 
fifteen  school  inspection  districts,  and  to  the  Mayor  was  given 


Board  of  Education  — 1890  to  1897  189 

power  to  appoint  in  each  district  five  Inspectors,  whose  duty  it 
was  to  visit  schools  and  report  on  their  condition,  the  efficiency 
of  teachers,  etc. 

Acting  under  the  provisions  of  the  new  law,  the  Board 
of  Education  appointed  fifteen  Assistant  Superintendents  of 
Schools,  in  addition  to  a  City  Superintendent,  and  also  several 
supervisors  of  special  branches,  viz.,  Supervisors  of  Free  Lec- 
tures, Manual  Training,  Music,  Physical  Education,  Kinder- 
gartens, Cooking,  and  Sewing. 

Sweeping  changes  were  made  in  the  Board  of  Education 
in  1895,  when  Mayor  William  L.  Strong,  acting  in  pursu- 
ance of  the  provisions  of  a  special  act  of  the  Legislature, 
removed  not  less  than  twelve  members  of  the  Board,  and  ap- 
pointed others  in  their  places.  The  Mayor's  right  to  do  this 
was  questioned  by  some,  but  no  test  of  the  question  was  made. 
f  A  long  stride  in  advance  occurred  in  1897,  when  the  Board 
took  positive  action  towards  establishing  high  schools,  a  subject 
which  had  been  agitated  for  a  number  of  years.;  In  September 
of  that  year  three  high  schools  were  opened :  one  for  boys,  one 
for  girls,  and  a  thircT,  in  the  territory  north  of  the  Harlem  River, 
for  both  boys  and  girls.  The  Boys'  High  School  (now  the  De 
Witt  Clinton)  was  opened  in  Public  School  35,  in  West  Thirteenth 
street ;  the  Girls'  High  School  (now  the  Wadleigh 1),  in  Public 
School  47,  in  East  Twelfth  street ;  and  the  Mixed  High  School 
(now  the  Morris2),  at  One  hundred  and  fifty-seventh  street  and 
Third  avenue.  In  the  selection  of  principals  for  these  schools 
every  effort  was  made  by  the  Board  of  Education  to  obtain  the 
best  available  men,  and  the  entire  country  was  canvassed  to 
secure  experts  of  the  highest  standing  in  matters  appertaining 
to  secondary  education. 

1  So  named  in  honor  of  Miss  Lydia  F.  Wadleigh,  who  had  been  a  successful 
principal  of  a  girls'  department  for  several  years  before  her  appointment,  in  1870,  to 
a  position  in  the  Normal  College,  where  she  filled  the  position  of  Lady  Superintendent 
for  many  years. 

2  Named  in  honor  of  Gouverneur  Morris. 


190  The  New  York  Public  School 

In  this  year  (1897)  the  Board  was  successful  in  its  efforts 
to  secure  the  passage  of  a  bill  by  the  Legislature  authorizing 
the  issue  of  city  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $2,500,000  for  high 
school  purposes,  and  four  sites  for  high  schools  were  speedily 
selected.1  The  success  of  the  high  schools  was  immediate,  and 
it  soon  became  necessary  to  open  annexes,  either  in  other  school 
buildings  or  in  leased  premises. 

The  lack  of  school  accommodations,  resulting  in  serious 
overcrowding  and  in  the  exclusion  of  a  large  number  of  children 
desiring  to  attend  school,  had  caused  much  complaint  on  the 
part  of  citizens  for  several  years,  but,  in  spite  of  all  endeavors, 
the  Board  found  itself  powerless  to  meet  the  demands  of  the 
steadily  increasing  school  population.  "The  unprecedented 
growth  of  the  city,"  said  the  Annual  Report  for  1896,  "together 
with  unexpected  movements  of  population,  rendered  it  almost 
impossible  to  keep  pace  with  the  demands  in  given  localities 
or  to  anticipate  the  needs  of  certain  sections  of  the  city  that 
speedily  outgrew  the  accommodations  that  were  provided " 
(p.  53).  In  1896  the  sum  of  $2,564,832  was  expended  for  sites 
and  buildings  ($866,643  f°r  buildings,  etc.,  and  $1,698,188  for 
sites)  —  an  amount  $911,312  larger  than  "the  amount  expended 
for  like  purposes  in  any  previous  year  in  the  history  of  the 
Board."  In  the  following  year  extraordinary  efforts  were  put 
forth  to  secure  additional  funds,  and  a  law  was  enacted  author- 
izing bonds  to  the  amount  of  $10,000,000  for  sites  and  school- 
houses.  A  large  number  of  sites  were  at  once  selected  and 
proceedings  taken  for  their  acquisition. 

To  facilitate  the  process  of  acquiring  sites,  which  was  very 
tedious  in  many  cases,  owing  to  long-drawn-out  condemnation 

1  One  at  Tenth  avenue,  Fifty-eighth  and  Fifty-ninth  streets,  on  which  the  De  Witt 
Clinton  School  is  now  being  built ;  one  in  One  hundred  and  fourteenth  and  One 
hundred  and  fifteenth  streets,  near  Eighth  avenue,  for  the  Wadleigh  School,  which 
was  opened  for  use  in  1902 ;  one  at  One  hundred  and  sixty-sixth  street  and  Boston 
road,  for  the  Morris  School,  which  was  opened  in  1904;  and  a  fourth,  for  a  manual 
training  school,  in  East  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth  streets,  near  First  avenue,  on  which 
the  Stuyvesant  High  School  is  being  erected. 


Board  of  Education  — 1890  to  1897  191 

proceedings,  a  law  was  obtained  in  1897  giving  the  Board  of 
Education  power  to  determine  that  title  to  any  property  selected 
for  school  purposes  should  vest  in  the  city  four  months  after 
the  filing  of  the  oaths  of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
court  to  conduct  condemnation  proceedings. 

In  addition  to  the  bond  issues  mentioned  above  and  those 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  chapter,  schoolhouse  bonds  were 
authorized  by  acts  of  the  Legislature  passed  in  1891  (Chapter 
264),  1893  (Chapter  282),  1894  (Chapter  459),  and  1895 
(Chapter  88). 

In  1893  an  act  was  passed  (Chapter  432)  authorizing  the  issue 
of  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $250,000  for  improving  the  sanitary 
condition  of  school  buildings  in  the  city  by  alterations  in  and 
additions  to  the  heating  and  ventilating  apparatus,  and  much 
good  work  was  thus  accomplished. 

During  the  period  now  under  consideration  great  improve- 
ments in  the  designing  and  erection  of  school  buildings  were 
made.  The  steel  skeleton  system  of  construction  was  employed, 
saving  time  in  the  erection  and,  by  reducing  the  thickness  of 
the  enclosing  walls,  securing  more  light  and  air;  five-story 
buildings  were  built,  the  fifth  story  furnishing  accommodation 
for  physical  and  manual  training ;  more  ornate  structures  were 
planned,  with  more  artistic  treatment  of  materials ;  the  so-called 
"  H  "  style  of  building,  giving  abundant  light  to  all  classrooms, 
with  no  possibility  of  its  being  cut  off  by  the  erection  of  adjacent 
buildings,  was  adopted  for  sections  of  the  city  where  sites  were 
very  costly;  mechanical  ventilation  for  classrooms  and  adjustable 
seats  and  desks  were  introduced ;  (jn  fact,  a  new  era  in  school 
architecture  may  truthfully  be  said  to  have  been  inaugurated. 

By  a  law  passed  in  1892  it  was  provided  that  all  school 
buildings  of  a  height  exceeding  thirty-five  feet  must  be  con- 
structed of  fireproof  materials. 

A  noteworthy  innovation  occurred  in  1896,  in  the  introduc- 
tion of  roof  playgrounds  for  schoolchildren.  A  small  experiment 
was  first  made  at  Grammar  School  75,  in  Norfolk  street ;  a  lot 


1 92  The  New  York  Public  School 

was  purchased  adjoining  the  school  property,  but  not  large 
enough  for  both  indoor  and  outdoor  playgrounds,  and  it  was 
decided  to  erect  a  one-story  building  to  form  an  indoor  play- 
room, and  to  pave  the  roof  with  asphalt  and  put  up  a  railing  to 
form  an  outside  playground.  The  plan  worked  admirably  ;  and 
the  large  new  building  of  Public  School  i,  at  Henry,  Oliver,  and 
Catherine  streets,  was  planned  for  a  big  playground  on  the  roof, 
which  was  paved  with  tiles  and  made  secure  with  walls,  railings, 
wire  nettings,  etc.,  so  as  to  prevent  injury  to  the  children  using 
it  or  to  persons  on  the  streets  or  roofs  below.  The  same  idea 
has  been  carried  out  in  buildings  more  recently  erected. 

An  important  piece  of  legislation  was  enacted  in  1894, 
namely,  the  law  creating  the  Public  School  Teachers'  Retire- 
ment Fund,  which  authorized  the  Board  of  Education,  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  City  Superintendent,  to  retire  on  half 
pay  any  teacher  mentally  or  physically  incapable  of  performing 
duty,  after  a  period  of  teaching,  in  the  case  of  a  man,  of  thirty- 
five  years,  and  in  the  case  of  a  woman,  of  thirty  years.  The 
Retirement  Fund  was  to  be  made  up  of  moneys  deducted  from 
teachers'  salaries  for  unexcused  absences.  The  annuity  was 
limited  to  $1000  in  all  cases.  No  retirements  were  made  in 
1894,  but  in  the  following  year  thirty-six  principals  and  teachers 
were  retired,  and  at  the  close  of  1896  there  were  eighty-five 
names  on  the  payroll  of  retired  teachers,  the  amount  to  which 
they  were  entitled  being  $51,113.50  per  annum.  \^New  York 
was  the  first_city  in  the  country  to  make  provision  for  the  retire- 
ment on  pension  of  faithful  teachers  who  have  devoted  the  major 
part  of  their  lives  to  the  instruction  of  the  young,  and  who  in 
old  age  are  incapacitated  for  work.  ^ 

The  school  system  of  New  York  was  enlarged  in  1895  by 
the  addition  of  nine  schools  (six  grammar  and  three  primary) 
located  in  towns  in  Westchester  County  which  were  annexed  to 
the  city  in  that  year. 

There  was  a  strong  tendency  during  the  period  under  review, 
and  for  several  years  previously,  in  favor  of  consolidating 


Board  of  Education  — 1890  to  1897  193 

schools  and  departments,  where  practicable,  in  the  interest  of 
efficiency  and  economy,  and  repeated  recommendations  on  this 
head  are  to  be  found  in  the  annual  reports  of  the  City  Super- 
intendent. The  Board  adopted  many  of  these.  Consolidations 
were  rendered  easier  by  the  abolition,  in  1897,  of  the  separation 
between  grammar  and  primary  schools.  The  primary  schools 
(forty-eight  in  all),  which  had  been  numbered  by  themselves, 
were  thereupon  renumbered,  to  follow  in  consecutive  order 
the  grammar  schools,  and  since  that  time  all  the  schools, 
without  reference  to  the  grades  taught  in  them,  have  been 
designated  simply  as  public  schools. 

The  annual  report  of  the  City  Superintendent  for  1895 
records  the  fact  that  24,000  children  were  refused  admission  to 
the  schools  during  that  year  for  lack  of  room,  while  for  1896 
that  official  reported  28,825  non-admissions,  adding:  "There  is 
no  doubt  that  some  of  these  were  reports  by  different  Principals 
of  the  refusal  of  the  same  pupil,  especially  in  cases  of  removal 
from  one  part  of  the  city  to  another."  In  his  report  for  the 
last-mentioned  year  the  Superintendent  said  :  "  Another  indica- 
tion of  the  necessity  for  additional  school  accommodations  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  number  of  pupils  taught  in  half-day  classes ; 
on  December  3ist,  1896,  there  were  10,381  pupils  on  register  in 
such  classes  in  the  schools  of  the  city  "  (p.  142). 

An  interesting  experiment  was  made  in  1893,  when  the 
Board  was  enabled  to  establish  seven  kindergarten  classes,  a 
special  appropriation  of  $5000  having  been  granted  by  the 
Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  for  the  purpose.  Lack  of 
funds  prevented  the  extension  of  kindergarten  instruction  in  the 
ensuing  year,  but  at  the  close  of  1895  there  were  ten  classes, 
with  a  registration  of  268,  and  a  year  later  fifteen  classes,  with 
a  registration  of  420.  The  interest  in  this  work  was  greatly 
stimulated  in  the  latter  part  of  1896  by  the  action  of  the  Board 
of  Education  in  appointing  a  Supervisor  of  Kindergartens. 

A  new  Compulsory  Education  Law  was  enacted  in  1894,  more 
stringent  in  its  character  than  the  law  passed  twenty  years 


194  The  New  York  Public  School 

earlier.  Under  its  provisions  sixteen  attendance  officers  were 
appointed.  In  1897  a  Truant  School,  for  the  detention 
of  children  habitually  absenting  themselves  from  school,  was 
established  in  East  Twenty-first  street. 

A  change  of  some  consequence  in  the  course  of  study  was 
made  in  1893,  in  the  provision  of  a  supplementary  year  in  the 
grammar  schools  for  the  special  benefit  of  pupils  not  desiring 
to  enter  either  the  College  of  the  City  of  New  York  or  the 
Normal  College.  In  1897  a  number  of  changes  and  modifica- 
tions were  made  in  the  course  of  study. 

After  careful  consideration  a  new  graded  system  of  salaries 
was  adopted  in  1896,  which  may  be  given,  in  synopsis,  as  follows  : 

Boys'  and  mixed  grammar  schools  —  Principals,  from  $2250  to  $3000 ; 
vice-principals,  $1800  to  $2016. 

Girls'  grammar  schools  —  Principals,  $1200  to  $1700;  vice-principals, 
$1000  to  $1200. 

Primary  departments  —  Principals,  $1000  to  $1700;  vice-principals,  $850 
to  $1200. 

Men  assistant  teachers,  $1080  to  $2016. 

Women  assistant  teachers  —Boys'  grammar  schools,  $633  to  $1116; 
mixed  grammar  schools,  $603  to  $1086;  girls'  grammar  schools,  $573  to 
$1056;  primary  departments  and  schools,  $504  to  $900. 

The  free  lectures  were  continued  with  increasing  success 
from  year  to  year.  In  1896,  1007  lectures  were  delivered,  in 
twenty-four  school  buildings  and  six  other  halls ;  the  attendance 
was  388,399,  being  an  increase  over  1895  of  100,234. 

In  1895  the  biennial  school  census  required  by  statute  was 
taken  for  the  first  time,  the  work  being  done  largely  by  the 
attendance  officers.  In  1897  a  school  census  was  taken  by  the 
police  force.  The  census  of  1895  showed  the  following  results: 
Children  between  five  and  sixteen  years  of  age  —  boys,  168,020; 
girls,  171,736;  attending  public  schools  —  boys,  99,945;  girls, 
98,834;  attending  other  schools  —  boys,  30,249;  girls,  32,207; 
out  of  school,  employed  —  boys,  13,888;  girls,  14,564;  truants 
from  school — boys,  23,988;  girls,  26,131. 

Arbor  Day  exercises  were  introduced  in  the  schools  in  1891. 


Board  of  Education  — 1890  to  1897  195 


On  October  10,  1892,  10,220  boys  attending  the  public 
schools,  representing  every  grammar  department  containing 
boys,  marched  in  the  School  and  College  Parade  in  connection 
with  the  celebration  of  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
discovery  of  America.  They  were  marshalled  in  twenty  regi- 
ments, and  made  a  most  creditable  showing.  On  the  same  day 
1680  girls  from  the  grammar  departments  sang  a  number  of 
patriotic  songs  from  a  stand  erected  at  Reservoir  square,  form- 
ing, by  means  of  appropriate  caps  and  capes,  a  representation 
of  an  American  shield  and  six  American  flags. 

Several  thousand  dollars  were  expended  in  1896  in  equipping 
the  schools  with  flagstaffs  and  flags,  in  pursuance  of  the  statute 
requiring  a  United  States  flag  to  be  displayed  upon  or  near  all 
school  buildings  during  school  sessions.  The  appropriation  for 
this  purpose  was  $7500. 

The  Central  Evening  High  School,  established  in  1890,  was 
discontinued  in  1896. 

COMPARISON  BETWEEN  1890  AND  I8961 


1890 

189C 

Grammar  schools  for  bovs        

46 

4Q 

Grammar  schools  for  girls        

48 

Grammar  schools,  mixed  (boys  and  girls)  . 
Primary  schools  and  departments  .... 
Total     

14 
120 
228 

24 
132 

2CC 

Whole  number  of  pupils  taught     .... 
Average  attendance                        . 

257,561 

318,545 
1  74.  QJ.2 

Number  of  teachers                                        . 

•j  r  17 

A    A%A 

Salaries  of  teachers 

&2.Q37.24.6  6? 

$3  Co8  OOI   Q7 

Total  expenditures 

4.  060  ?8o  272 

50Q-J    8^7     CO^ 

Cost  of  books  and   supplies   through   the 
Depository     

167,114..  77 

245,855  56 

Value  of  school  sites  and  buildings    .     .     . 

15,524,600.00 

20,775,286.00 

1  No  Annual  Report  was  issued  for  the  year  1897. 

2  Not   including   expenditures  on  bond  account,  which  amounted  in   1890  to 
$1,653,520.13,  and  in  1896  to  $2,564,832.84. 


196  The  New  York  Public  School 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  — 1890  TO  1897 

President 
J.  Edward  Simmons      .     .     .     1890  (to  July  2d) 

John  L.  N.  Hunt 1890  (from  July  2d)-i892 

Adolph  L.  Sanger1  ....     1893 

Charles  H.  Knox 1894,  1895  (to  June  24th) 

Robert  Maclay1 1895  (from  July  ist),  1896 

Charles  Bulkley  Hubbell    .    .     1897 

Clerk 
Arthur  McMullin      ....     1890-1897 

Superintendent  of  School  Buildings 
George  W.  Debevoise  .     .     .     1890,  1891 
C.  B.  J.  Snyder 1891  (from  July  8th)-i897 

Auditor 
George  T.  Balch1 1890-1893  (position  abolished  May  3d) 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 
John  Jasper 1890-1897 

Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools 

Norman  A.  Calkins1     .     .     .  1890-1895  (to  December  22d) 

John  H.  Fanning1    ....  1890  (to  June  26th) 

William  Jones x 1890-1892  (to  February  3d) 

James  Godwin 1890-1897 

Paul  Hoffman1 1890-1893  (to  December  2d) 

Henry  W.  Jameson  ....  1890-1897 

George  S.  Davis 1890-1897 

Edward  D.  Farrell    ....  1890  (from  January  I5th)-i 897 

Henry  M.  Leipziger  .     .     .     .  1891  (from  May  2oth)-i896  (to  July  1st) 

James  Lee 1892  (from  April  6th)-i897 

Eugene  D.  Bagen     ....  1894  (from  January  ist)- 1896 

Alfred  T.  Schauffler      .     .     .  1894  (from  January  roth)- 1897 

Gustave  StraubenmUller     .     .  1895  (from  January  9^-1897 

John  L.  N.  Hunt      ....  1896  (from  July  8th),  1897 

Addison  D.  Poland  ....  1896  (from  February  I9th),  1897  (to   Febru- 
ary 1 7th) 
1  Deceased. 


Board  of  Education  — 1890  to  1897  197 

Thomas  S.  O'Brien  ....  1896  (from  March  i8th),  1897 

Matthew  J.  Elgas      ....  1896  (from  July  8th),  1897 

Albert  P.  Marble 1896  (from  July  1st),  1897 

Clarence  E.  Meleney     .     .     .  1896  (from  July  1st),  1897 

Seth  T.  Stewart 1896  (from  July  1st),  1897 

Edgar  Dubs  Shimer      .     .     .  1896  (from  September  i6th),  1897 

Walter  B.  Gunnison      .     .     .  1896  (from  July  ist  to  September  gth) 

Supervisors  of  Special  Subjects 

Henry  M.  Leipziger  —  Free  Lectures    .     .     .     1896  (from  July  ist),  1897 

Frank  Damrosch  —  Music 1897  (from  September) 

James  P.  Haney  —  Manual  Training    .     .     .     1896  (from   September   I4th), 

1897 
Miss  M.  Augusta  Requa  —  Physical  Education  1896  (from  September  I4th), 

1897 
Miss  Sophie  J.  Nicolai  —  Physical  Education     1896  (from  September  I4th), 

1897 

Miss  Jenny  B.  Merrill  —  Kindergartens  .  .  1896  (from  October  2 ist),  1897 
Mrs.  Mary  E.  Williams  —  Cooking.  .  .  .  1896  (from  October  2  ist),  1897 
Mrs.  Annie  L.  Jessup  —  Sewing 1896  (from  September  I4th), 

1897 


CHAPTER  XXIII 
BROOKLYN  —  SCHOOLS   BEFORE    1843 

I  THE  history  of  education  in  Brooklyn  and  the  other 
Boroughs  is  quite  unlike  the  history  of  the  development  of 
schools  in  the  former  city  of  New  York,  at  all  events  in  that 
most  interesting  period  during  which  the  Public  School  Society, 
a  singular  anomaly  in  educational  annals,  flourished.  Nowhere 
else  were  the  schools  and  the  school  moneys,  during  a  long 
course  of  years,  placed  under  the  control  of  a  private  corpora- 
tion, having  no  direct  responsibility  to  the  people ;  nowhere 
else  were  witnessed  such  memorable  religious  controversies  as 
those  marking  the  career  of  the  Society,  which  have  been 
recounted  in  previous  chapters ;  nowhere  else  was  a  Board  of 
Education  confronted  for  a  decade  by  a  rival  organization, 
which  it  at  length  succeeded  in  absorbing.^ 

In  the  earlier  periods,  however,  a  striking  similarity  is  to 
be  noted  in  nearly  all  parts  of  the  present  city.  This  is  what 
might  be  expected,  seeing  that  almost  every  section  was  settled 
by  people  of  similar  character,  and  naturally  developed  along 
lines  substantially  alike.  In  Brooklyn  (Breuckelen),  as  in  New 
Amsterdam,  the  minister  appears  to  have  preceded  the  school- 
master. As  nearly  as  can  be  determined,  the  first  church  on 
Long  Island  was  established  at  Flatbush  (Midwout)  in  1654; 
and  the  residents  of  Brooklyn  were  obliged  for  some  time  to 
travel  to  Flatbush  to  attend  public  worship.  In  1660  a  minister 
was  appointed  for  Brooklyn ;  and  in  the  following  year  Carel 
de  Beauvois  (or  Debevoise)  was  engaged  as  schoolmaster. l 

1  "As  far  back  as  1661  the  records  of  the  schools  in  this  town  [Brooklyn]  can 
be  traced.  In  May  of  that  year  Governor  Stuyvesant  recommended  Charles  Dube- 

198 


Brooklyn  —  Schools  before  1843  199 

There  is  every  probability  that  there  was  a  school  in  Flat- 
bush  a  year  or  two  earlier,  and  very  likely  as  early  as  1653. 
In  his  History  of  Flatbu s/i,  Dr.  Strong  stated  that  Adriaen  Hege- 
man,  clerk  and  schout,  was  the  first  schoolmaster,  1659-1671, 
while,  in  Early  Settlers  of  Kings  County,  Mr.  Teunis  G.  Bergen 
gave  the  place  of  honor  to  Reynier  Bastiaensen  Van  Giesen, 
with  whom  an  agreement  was  made  in  June,  1660,  to  teach  the 
school,  perform  the  duties  of  court  messenger,  etc.  Dr.  Stiles, 
in  his  compendious  History  of  Kings  Cotinty,  endeavors  to  rec- 
oncile the  difference  between  the  two  investigators.  "  It  will 
be  seen,"  he  says,  "  that  it  is  quite  possible  that  Hegeman 
acted  in  this  capacity,  from  1653  or  '54,  the  date  of  his  first 
coming  to  Flatbush,  until  1660,  in  5th  June,  of  which  year 
(according  to  Bergen's  translation  of  the  first  records)  the  con- 
sistory made  an  agreement  with  Van  Giesen  to  become  school- 
master. He  served  until  October  26,  1663,  when  Pilgrom  Cloeq 
was  engaged,  and  probably  served  until  1671.  This  covers  the 
period  for  which  Dr.  Strong  could  find  no  other  schoolmaster 
than  Hegeman,  and  places  the  date  of  the  employment  of  a 
schoolmaster  at  a  much  earlier  point.  It  is  also  in  accordance 
with  Dutch  custom  ;  for  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  first 
settlers  were  here  for  nearly  fifteen  years  without  a  school- 
master and  krank-besoecker"  (p.  249). 

Writing  at  a  later  period,  Dr.  Ross,  in  his  History  of  Long 
Island?-  asserts  that  "  Hegeman,  the  common  ancestor  of  that 
now  numerous  family,  came  here  from  Amsterdam  about  1650 
and  took  up  his  residence  at  first  in  New  Amsterdam.  In  1654 
he  was  a  magistrate  of  Flatbush,  and  in  1661  schout  fiscal  of  the 
five  Dutch  towns;  and  he  held  other  public  offices,  besides 
being  described  as  an  auctioneer.  .  .  .  Hegeman  appears  to 
have  been  a  man  of  wealth,  and  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of 

roice  (sic)  as  a  suitable  person  to  be  employed  as  teacher,  and  also  for  clerk  and 
sexton  of  the  church."  —  Report  of  Theodore  F.  King,  Deputy  Superintendent  of 
Schools  for  Kings  County,  to  the  State  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  1842. 
1  Vol.  I,  pp.  266,  267. 


2oo  The  New  York  Public  School 

his  performing  the  full  duties  of  schoolmaster,  which,  as  we 
shall  see,  included  much  that  were  rather  servile  in  their 
nature.  ...  It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  he  simply  per- 
formed a  part  of  the  duties  which  fell  to  the  lot  of  a  school- 
master until  a  regular  and  full  appointment  was  made.  This 
was  in  1660,  when  Reynier  Van  Giesen  was  installed.  .  .  .  Van 
Giesen  held  the  office  until  1663,  when  he  removed  to  Bergen 
county,  New  Jersey,  and  Pilgrom  Clocq  was  appointed  school- 
master in  his  stead,  continuing  as  such  until  1671." 

The  first  school  in  Flatbush,  which  was  doubtless  the  earliest 
school  on  Long  Island,  is  reputed  to  have  been  located  not  far 
from  the  present  site  of  Erasmus  Hall  High  School.  "  What  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  first  village  school  house  stood  on  a 
plot  to  the  north  of  Erasmus  Hall  campus,  and  remained  in  use 
over  a  century  and  a  half.  Additions  were  made  as  needed,  so, 
when  it  was  sold,  in  1803,  for  use  as  a  village  store,  and  the 
school  moved  to  the  Academy,  it  was  composed  of  three  small 
buildings  joined  together."  * 

A  definite  date  is  fixed  for  the  commencement  of  the  school 
under  Carel  de  Beauvois  in  Brooklyn,  namely,  the  4th  of  July, 
1 66 1.  The  first  school  tax  of  150  guilders  was  levied  by  order 
of  Director-General  Stuyvesant,  and  the  government  added  50 
guilders  from  its  treasury.  Dr.  Stiles  adds  that  "  The  names  of 
the  earliest  settlers  of  Breucklyn  who  were  assessed  to  establish 
public  education  are  still  to  be  found  in  the  archives  of  the 
city  "  (p.  609).  The  salary  fixed  for  the  first  teacher  was  the 
whole  amount  raised  for  school  purposes,  and  he  was  also 
furnished  with  a  dwelling  house.  The  school  is  believed  to 
have  been  opened  in  a  little  church  edifice,  octagonal  in  form, 
which  stood  near  the  point  where  Bridge  street  now  joins  Ful- 

1  Flatbush,  Past  and  Present,  Fisher,  p.  53.  Mr.  Fisher  adds  that  in  1844  the 
trustees  of  the  Academy  requested  that  other  accommodations  be  provided  for  the 
school,  and  a  large  frame  building,  the  upper  part  of  which  was  used  as  a  court  room, 
was  erected  near  the  present  site  of  Public  School  90  ;  and  that  a  new  brick  school- 
house  was  built  in  1878,  at  a  cost  of  $19,000. 


Brooklyn  —  Schools  before  1843  201 

ton  street.  The  schoolmaster  was  a  learned  man,  of  Huguenot 
extraction. J 

The  next  school  (the  third)  within  the  present  limits  of  Brook- 
lyn was  established  in  Bushwick(Boswyck),  about  the  beginning 
of  1663,  by  Boudewyn  Manout,  who  also  acted  as  court  clerk. 
In  Stiles's  History  appears  a  quotation  from  the  ancient  records 
(here  given  verbatim),  stating  that  on  December  28,  1662, 

"  the  magistrates  of  the  village  of  Boswyck,  appeared  before  the  council,  repre- 
senting that  they  in  their  village,  were  in  great  need  of  a  person  who  would 
act  as  clerk  and  schoolmaster  to  instruct  the  youth  ;  and,  that,  as  one  had  been 
proposed  to  them,  viz. :  Boudewyn  Manout,  from  Crimpen  op  de  Lecq  [a 
village  in  Holland]  they  had  agreed  with  him,  that  he  should  officiate  as  voorleser 
or  clerk,  and  keep  school  for  the  instruction  of  the  youth.  For  his  [services]  as 
clerk  he  was  to  receive  400  guilders  in  [wampum]  annually  ;  and,  as  school- 
master, free  house  rent  and  firewood.  They  therefore  solicited,  that  their 
action  in  the  matter  might  meet  the  approval  of  the  Director  General  and 
Council  in  Nieuw  Netherland,  and  that  the  Council  would  also  contribute 
something  annually  to  facilitate  the  payment  of  the  said  salary  "(p.  276). 

The  historian  adds  :  "  The  Council  assented,  and  promised, 
that,  after  he  had  been  duly  examined  and  approved  by  the 
reverend  ministers  of  the  city,  they  would  lighten  the  annual 
burden  of  the  village  by  contributing  annually  /25,  heavy 
money." 

Indeed,  the  duties  of  a  schoolmaster  in  the  days  of  Dutch 
supremacy,  and  for  some  years  afterward,  were  multifarious  and 
confusing.  On  this  point  interesting  light  is  shed  by  an  agree- 
ment made  with  Johannes  Cornelius  Van  Eckkelen,  who  was 
appointed  schoolmaster  at  Flatbush  in  1682.  The  agreement  in 
full  is  given  in  Appendix  I. 

1  "After  the  settled  pastor  came  the  schoolmaster.  He,  too,  was  a  learned  and 
distinguished  man  —  Carel  de  Beauvois,  an  educated  French  Protestant  from  Leyden, 
who  was  appointed  in  Breuckelen  in  1661,  and  was  also  required  to  perform  the 
offices  of  court  messenger,  precentor  (voorsanger) ,  ring  the  bell,  and  do  whatever  else 
is  required."  —  Historic  New  York,  II,  p.  401.  In  his  History  of  the  Early  Schools 
in  Long  Island,  Thiry  says  that  "  In  1661  Brooklyn  received  its  first  school-master  in 
the  person  of  Carl  De  Bevoise,  who  emigrated  from  Leyden  in  1659.  He  was  the 
common  ancestor  of  the  now  widespread  and  influential  De  Bevoise  family"  (p.  12). 


2O2  The  New  York  Public  School 

The  Bushwick  school  was  conducted  in  the  church  edifice  at 
that  settlement,  which,  like  the  one  in  Brooklyn,  appears  to  have 
been  of  octagonal  shape.  It  stood  near  what  is  now  the  inter- 
section of  Bushwick  avenue  and  Skillman  street.  "  It  is,"  says 
Dr.  Stiles,  "an  interesting,  and,  perhaps,  to  most  of  the  people 
of  Brooklyn,  an  astonishing  fact,  that  when,  about  two  centuries 
later,  the  Board  of  Education  assumed  jurisdiction  of  the  public 
schools  of  Bushwick,  at  the  time  of  the  consolidation  of  that  town 
with  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  in  the  year  1855,  it  found  the  district 
school  still  kept  on  the  same  site  on  which  it  was  founded  in  1662, 
and  surrounded  by  the  same  walls  of  houses  which  had  guarded 
it  for  two  centuries  "  (p.  610).  This  school  became  No.  23  after 
the  consolidation  of  Williamsburgh  and  Bushwick  with  Brooklyn. 

The  fourth  school  within  what  is  now  Brooklyn  was  organ- 
ized in  the  village  of  Bedford,  at  the  junction  of  Clove,  Cripple- 
bush,  and  Jamaica  lanes,1  probably  in  the  same  year  (1663). 
"This  school,"  we  learn  from  Dr.  Stiles,  "is  memorable  for 
many  incidents  connected  with  the  history  of  Brooklyn.  Here 
John  Vandervoort  taught  for  sixty  years.  .  .  .  John  Vander- 
voort  took  charge  of  this  school  about  1748  or  '50,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  been  its  second  teacher.  His  long  service 
of  sixty  years  was  uninterrupted,  except  for  a  while  during  the 
Revolution,  when  he  was  imprisoned  by  the  British.  The  old 
school-house  had  two  rooms,  with  a  large  chimney  between ;  one 
room  being  the  school  room  proper,  the  other  used  as  a  residence 
for  the  teacher;  and,  about  1775,  an  addition  was  made,  some 
fourteen  feet  square,  which  the  teacher  was  permitted  to  use  as 
a  grocery  store,  by  means  of  which  he  eked  out  his  slender 
salary"  (p.  610).  The  modern  successor  of  this  school  has 
been  known  as  No.  3  since  the  organization  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  in  1843. 

1  The  Clove  road  (as  it  was  known  later)  led  from  Bedford  to  Flatbush ;  the 
Cripplebush  road  from  Bedford  to  Newtown  ;  and  Jamaica  lane  became  the  Brook- 
lyn and  Jamaica  turnpike.  The  school  probably  stood  near  the  junction  of  Bedford 
avenue  or  Nostrand  avenue  and  Fulton  street. 


Brooklyn  —  Schools  before  1843  203 

The  earliest  mention  of  a  common  school  in  Flatlands  ap- 
pears in  the  year  1675,  when,  according  to  Stiles,  "it  was  evi- 
dently in  a  mature  and  vigorous  career,  under  the  care  of  the 
church  elders  and  was  called  'The  School  of  the  Town.'  The 
first  notice  we  have  of  it  is  in  regard  to  a  supply  of  books  by 
the  deacons ;  and  entries  and  bills,  of  elementary  and  religious 
books  paid  for,  appear  in  their  accounts  from  1675  for  a  long 
period  of  years,  along  with  every  variety  and  order  of  expenses  " 
(PP-  75 »  76).  If  the  well-established  custom  was  followed  in 
this  town,  and  the  schoolmaster  was  also  chorister,  reader,  and 
sexton,  the  name  of  Wellem  Gerretse  is  deserving  of  honorable 
mention. 

The  records  of  the  town  of  Gravesend  show  that  a  school 
was  established  in  1728;  it  stood  on  the  site  occupied  by  the 
town  hall  at  the  time  of  the  annexation  of  the  town  to  Brooklyn, 
in  1894,  and  was  used  until  1778,  when  a  larger  building  took 
its  place.  This  was  in  use  for  about  fifty  years,  when  it  was 
converted  into  a  town  hall ;  a  new  site  was  then  purchased  and 
a  more  roomy  schoolhouse  built.  A  second  school  was  started 
in  the  town  in  1811,  and  several  others  were  organized  before 
annexation  took  place. 

The  town  of  New  Lots  was  not  set  off  from  Flatbush  until 
1852.  A  school  was  opened  in  that  section  as  early  as  1740. 
A  more  commodious  building  took  the  place  of  the  first  one 
about  1810. 

/  The  Dutch,  as  was  shown  in  an  earlier  chapter,  took  pride 
in  maintaining  free  schools ;  but  during  the  British  regime  little 
or  no  attention  was  paid  to  public  education,  and  the  govern- 
ment did  nothing  toward  the  support  of  schools.  The  schools 
previously  established  seem  to  have  been  maintained  by  their 
patrons. 

Two  other  schools  are  supposed  to  have  been  organized 
before  the  Revolutionary  War.  One  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Wallabout  Creek ;  after  some  years  it  was  removed  to  what  is  now 
Bedford  and  Flushing  avenues,  and  later  it  became  Brooklyn 


204  The  New  York  Public  School 

School  No.  4.  The  other  was  started  in  Gowanus,  on  one  of 
the  Bergen  farms,  principally  for  the  benefit  of  the  families 
of  that  name.  It  was  opened  in  a  dwelling-house ;  after  the 
Revolution  a  schoolhouse  was  built  near  the  corner  of  the 
present  Third  avenue  and  Fortieth  street.  This  school  became 
No.  2  under  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education.1 

"  In  all  the  schools  mentioned  above,"  says  Dr.  Stiles,  "  the 
Dutch  language  was  at  first  the  only  one  used.  But,  from 
about  the  year  1758  to  the  year  1800,  both  the  Dutch  and  Eng- 
lish languages  were  taught.  In  the  Bushwick  and  Gowanus 
schools,  the  use  of  the  Dutch  tongue  was  continued  much  later, 
and  even  down  to  the  Revolution.  In  the  Bushwick  school 
studies  in  Dutch  were  not  abandoned  until  about  fifty  years 
ago  "(p.  6ii).2 

"In  1770  the  town  [Brooklyn]  contained  only  one  school  of 
19  scholars.  ...  In  1770,  a  school  house  was  built  by  subscrip- 
tion, for  the  accommodation  of  the  town.  The  subscribers 
chose  the  trustees,  who  managed  the  financial  affairs,  and  ad- 
mitted free  all  who  were  unable  to  pay.  .  .  .  This  appears  to 
be  the  earliest  attempt  at  anything  like  a  district  or  common 
school  system."  3 

The  claim  is  made  on  behalf  of  the  school  in  Gowanus  that 
in  1810  that  district  took  advantage  of  the  State  law  passed  in 
1805  and  elected  trustees.  If  this  claim  could  be  substantiated, 
School  No.  2  would  have  the  credit  of  being  the  first  school 
organized  under  the  new  law  in  the  territory  now  Brooklyn. 

1  "The  first  documentary  evidence  we  possess  of  this  school  is  dated  1792,  at 
which  date  it  is  known  to  have  been  in  existence  in  a  log  house,  situated  on  a  farm 
lane  near  Forty-fourth  Street  and  Third  Avenue.     It  was  removed  to  a  frame  build- 
ing in  1797,  and  in  1820  experienced  another  removal  to  a  building  on  Martense 
Lane."  — Historical  Sketch  of  the  Public  Schools  of  Brooklyn,  Field,  pp.  xxxii,  xxxiii. 

2  This  paragraph  was  written  prior  to  1884.     The  schools  referred  to  did  not 
include  those  in  New  Lots,  Flatbush,  Flatlands,  and  Gravesend,  which  were  not 
united  with  Brooklyn  until  1886,  1894,  and  1895. 

8  Report  of  Deputy  Superintendent  King  to  the  State  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools,  1842. 


Brooklyn  —  Schools  before  184.3  205 

Mr.  Tunis  G.  Bergen,  President  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of 
Education  from  1882  to  1886,  who  wrote  a  part  of  the  chapter 
on  "  The  Department  of  Public  Education"  in  Stiles's  History, 
makes  the  positive  assertion  that  this  was  done,  and  names  as 
the  first  trustees  Garret  Bergen,  Stephen  Hendrickson,  and 
Cornelius  Van  Brunt. 

The  first  distribution  of  the  Common  School  Fund  created 
by  the  act  of  1805  took  place  in  1815.  In  1816  a  tax  of 
$2000  was  levied  upon  the  village  of  Brooklyn,  and  a  common 
school  was  opened  on  the  6th  of  May  in  that  year,  in  the  lower 
part  of  a  building  in  Adams  street,  near  Sands.1  There  were 
then  552  children  within  the  village  limits  who  did  not  attend 
private  schools. 

A  schoolhouse  in  District  No.  3,  town  of  Bushwick,  was  built 
in  1826,  in  the  vicinity  of  North  First  street.  In  the  mean 
time  the  original  Bushwick  school  had  been  organized  as 
District  School  No.  i,  and  a  second  school  had  been  started  at 
Bushwick  Crossroads.  The  school  in  District  No.  I  was  the 
first  in  what  later  became  the  village  and  city  of  Williamsburgh. 
An  account  of  this  school  was  written  a  few  years  ago  by  Mr. 
James  Murphy, 2  and  from  it  the  following  is  taken : 

"  Williamsburgh's  first  schoolhouse  was  located  on  the  block  of  ground  now 
bounded  by  Berry  street  and  Bedford  avenue,  Grand  and  North  First  streets. 
The  land  for  the  school  site,  history  tells  us,  was  donated  by  Mr.  David 
Dunham,  a  New  York  merchant,  in  the  year  1820.  A  schoolhouse  was 
erected  thereon  by  the  people  of  the  neighborhood,  and  was  known  as 
District  School  No.  3  of  the  town  of  Bushwick.  The  earliest  schoolmaster  of 
whom  we  have  recollection  was  a  Mr.  Beverly,  an  English  gentleman.  He 

1  The  first  principal  of  the  school  was  John  Dikeman,  afterwards  Judge  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas  and  County  Judge.     It  may  be  remarked  that  no  connection 
is  traceable  between  the  school  established  in  1661  and  the  school  opened  in  1816, 
although  Mr.  Field  says  that  the  former  "  is  shown,  by  various  documents,  to  have 
been  in  existence  at  different  periods,  under  one  form  or  another,  for  more  than  two 
centuries,"  and  adds  that  "it  was  opened  as  a  district  school"  on  May  6,  1816. — 
Historical  Sketchy  p.  xxxi. 

2  Mr.  Murphy  was  a  member  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  beginning  with  1861,  and  was  its  Vice-President  for  several  years. 


206  The  New  York  Public  School 

was  in  charge  of  the  school  in  1830,  and  for  several  years  afterward  ;  how  long 
before  that  date  we  have  not  been  able  to  learn.  .  .  .  The  old  schoolhouse 
was  removed  to  Sixth  (now  Roebling)  street  in  the  year  1849,  and  fitted  up 
for  a  dwelling  house,  and  is  still  so  used.  School  sessions  were  held  from 
9  A.M.  to  12  M.  the  year  round,  and  from  i  to  4  P.M.  in  winter,  2  to  5  P.M.  in 
summer,  except  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  when  there  were  no  afternoon 
sessions." 

Within  the  present  boundaries  of  Brooklyn  several  other 
schools  were  established  before  the  passage  of  the  act  provid- 
ing a  Board  of  Education  for  the  city:  one  in  1827  in  the 
neighborhood  of  what  is  now  the  corner  of  Court  and  Degraw 
streets,  which  in  course  of  time  became  No.  6 ;  another  in  the 
same  year  at  the  northwest  corner  of  Adams  and  Prospect 
streets  (the  second  in  the  village  of  Brooklyn),  now  No.  7  ; 
another  about  the  same  time  in  a  small  frame  building  in  Gold 
street,  between  Myrtle  and  Willoughby  avenues,  which  devel- 
oped into  No.  5  ;  a  fourth  in  1830  in  Middagh  street,  between 
Henry  and  Hicks,  which  became  No.  8 ;  a  fifth  a  year  or  two 
later  near  the  present  site  of  the  Mount  Prospect  Reservoir, 
which  afterward  was  known  as  No.  9.  About  the  same  time  a 
school  was  started  in  the  vicinity  of  what  was  later  Fourth 
avenue  and  Macomb  street;  this  became  No.  10. 

Mention  is  made  by  Dr.  Stiles  (p.  413)  of  a  school  established 
in  1813  by  an  association  of  charitable  women  "for  the  free 
instruction  of  poor  children  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  knit- 
ting and  sewing,"  which  "  ultimately  resulted  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  first  public  school."  It  was  governed  by  a  board  of 
five  trustees,  who  solicited  donations  of  books  as  well  as  of  cash 
for  rent  and  other  expenses.  The  instruction  was  given  by 
young  women  of  the  village  who  volunteered  for  the  purpose.1 

1  This  school  was  modelled  apparently  after  the  school  started  by  the  Female 
Association  in  New  York  in  1802  (see  Chapter  I).  Its  location  is  not  stated  by  Dr. 
Stiles,  and  it  is  impossible  to  identify  it  with  any  of  the  district  schools  of  the  village 
of  Brooklyn. 


£8   VEVKS  A   MKM 

nOA/RP 
\\D  K<>i;    !  I   N    -••.'•• 

; 

1>  1  KP  -'I  I  \K  SOT1.1    1^ 


BY  THE  TE  ACHERS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SG! 
OF   BROOKLYN, 


A  GROUP  OF  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 
1.    Cyrus  P.  Smith.    2.   J.  Sullivan  Thorne,  M.D.     3.   Ephraim  J.  Whitlock 


CHAPTER   XXIV 
BROOKLYN   BOARD   OF  EDUCATION  —  ORGANIZATION 

PRIOR  to  the  year  1843  all  the  schools  of  Brooklyn,  which 
had  been  incorporated  as  a  city  nine  years  before,  were  organ- 
ized as  separate  district  schools.  An  act  passed  in  1835  (Chap- 
ter 129)  provided  that  the  Common  Council  should  appoint  in 
each  district  three  trustees  of  common  schools,  and  for  the 
whole  city  three  inspectors  and  three  commissioners  of  such 
schools.  On  March  23,  1843,  the  law  was  passed  creating  a 
governing  body  for  all  the  schools  of  the  city.  This  law  (Chap- 
ter 63)  provided  that  the  members  of  the  Common  Council  should 
be  commissioners  of  common  schools  in  and  for  the  city,  and 
that  on  the  first  Monday  in  April,  1843,  they  should  "appoint 
two  or  more  discreet  and  suitable  persons,  to  represent  each  of 
the  school  districts,"  who  should  constitute  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation.1 The  full  term  of  membership  was  fixed  at  three  years. 
The  Mayor  and  the  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools 
for  the  county  were  made  ex  officio  members. 

Under  the  terms  of  the  act,  the  Common  Council  was 
empowered  to  make  "  such  provision  for  the  regulation  of  the 
Board  of  Education  "  as  might  be  deemed  "  necessary  to  effect 
a  complete  and  efficient  organization  for  common  school  educa- 
tion." In  April,  accordingly,  the  Common  Council  adopted  an 
ordinance  to  the  effect  that  the  Board  of  Education  should  hold 
its  first  meeting  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  May  and  stated  meet- 
ings at  least  once  a  month ;  and  that  its  officers  should  be  a 

1  The  Board  of  Education  for  Brooklyn  was  established  one  year  after  that  in 
New  York  ;  its  members  were  never  elected  by  the  people,  by  wards  or  districts,  as 
was  done  on  Manhattan  Island  for  more  than  twenty-five  years. 

207 


208  The  New  York  Public  School 

President,  a  Vice-President,  and  a  Secretary,  elected  from  its 
own  members.  This  ordinance  contained  the  odd  provision 
that  "The  said  Board  shall  make  its  own  by-laws,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  Common  Council." 

The  Board  was  organized  on  May  2d,  with  twenty-eight  mem- 
bers (not  counting  the  ex  officio  members),  as  in  two  districts  the 
full  number  of  "  discreet  and  suitable  persons  "  had  not  been 
appointed.  Dr.  Theodore  F.  King,  the  Deputy  County  Super- 
intendent, was  elected  President,  Stephen  Haynes,  of  District 
No.  5,  Vice-President,  and  Alfred  G.  Stevens,  of  District  No.  i, 
Secretary.1  By  an  act  passed  in  the  same  year  (1843)  the  title 
of  Deputy  County  Superintendent  was  changed  to  County  Super- 
intendent.2 The  office  of  County  Superintendent  of  Schools 
was  abolished  throughout  the  State  (except  in  New  York 
County)  by  an  act  passed  November  13,  1847.  In  the  suc- 
ceeding January  the  Board  of  Education  was  authorized  to 
appoint  a  City  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools.  A  mem- 
ber of  the  Board,  Dr.  J.  Sullivan  Thorne,  was  elected  to  that 
office  in  March  and  served  for  two  months.  In  May  Samuel 
L.  Holmes  was  elected.3 

1  An  amusing  "heterophemy "  appears  in  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  of  the 
Board  held  on  December  5,  1843,  namely,  that  "Mr.  Addoms  called  the  attention 
of  the  Lodge  to  the  subject  of  the  annual  report,"  etc. 

2  Dr.  King  ceased  to  be  County  Superintendent  at  the  close  of  the  year  1843, 
and  in  January  following  Dr.   J.  Sullivan  Thorne,  representing  District  No.  7,  was 
elected  President.     The  salary  of  County  Superintendent  was  $500  per  annum. 

-"t^  8  Brooklyn  had  a  City  Superintendent  three  years  before  New  YorkjT^Mr.  Holmes 
was  a  well-known  teacher.  In  his  report  for  the  year  1852  he  speaks  of  "having  had 
the  honor  in  1843,  *°  participate  somewhat  effectually,  in  the  original  establishment 
of  this  Board,"  evidently  referring  to  the  fact  that  in  the  year  mentioned  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Assembly,  from  West  Chester  County.  Just  before  going  to  Brooklyn 
he  had  been  General  Deputy  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  for  the  State.  In 
that  office  he  succeeded  Samuel  S.  Randall,  who,  by  a  strange  turn  of  fortune,  became 
City  Superintendent  in  Brooklyn  in  1853,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Holmes.  Mr. 
Randall,  after  serving  only  a  few  weeks,  resigned  at  the  end  of  1853,  to  become 
Deputy  State  Superintendent  again  ;  and  in  June,  1854,  he  was  chosen  City  Super- 
intendent of  New  York,  in  which  office  he  served  for  sixteen  years.  The  act  of  1848, 
providing  for  a  Brooklyn  City  Superintendent,  limited  the  salary  to  $1000,  and  the 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  —  Organization     209 

An  act  passed  in  1850  (Chapter  143)  provided  for  a  Board 
of  Education  of  thirty-three  members,  appointed  by  the  Com- 
mon Council;  at  least  one  member,  it  was  prescribed,  should 
reside  in  each  school  district.  The  full  term  of  membership 
continued  to  be  three  years.  A  change  of  importance  was 
made  in  1854,  when  the  law  consolidating  the  city  of  Williams- 
burgh  and  the  town  of  Bushwick  with  Brooklyn  (Chapter  384) 
was  enacted.  This  required  the  Common  Council  to  appoint 
additional  members  for  the  new  part  of  the  city,  and  that  body 
fixed  the  number  of  members  at  forty-five  (thirteen  of  whom 
were  to  reside  in  the  Eastern  District,  as  the  annexed  territory 
was  for  many  years,  and  is  still  to  some  extent,  known).  The 
number  remained  unchanged  throughout  the  Board's  existence. 
By  an  act  which  became  a  law  in  1862  it  was  provided  that  the 
Mayor  should  nominate  members  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
subject  to  the  confirmation  of  the  Common  Council;  and  under 
the  amended  charter  which  went  into  effect  at  the  beginning  of 
1882  the  sole  power  of  appointment  was  given  to  the  Mayor. 

The  amended  charter  (passed  May  25,  1880)  provided  that 
any  vacancy  occurring  in  the  Board  during  the  remainder  of 
that  year  should  be  filled  by  the  Mayor  and  Comptroller,  and  any 
vacancy  occurring  during  1881  by  the  Mayor  alone;  and  an  act 
passed  June  16,  1880  (Chapter  564),  provided  that,  in  case  the 
Mayor  and  Comptroller  failed  to  agree,  then  the  Auditor  of  the 
city  should  become  one  of  the  appointing  powers. 

From  1848  to  1857  the  duties  of  Secretary  of  the  Board  were 
performed  by  the  City  Superintendent ;  in  the  year  last  named 
the  Board  was  authorized  by  law  to  appoint  a  Secretary.  In 
1866  it  was  given  power  to  appoint  an  Assistant  Superintend- 
ent of  Schools. 

By  an  amendment  to  the  charter,  adopted  in  1873,  it  was 
provided  that  there  should  be  a  Department  of  Public  Instruc- 

by-laws  of  the  Board  fixed  it  at   that  amount   for  Mr.  Holmes,  with  "  travelling 
expenses  not  exceeding  $25."     When  Mr.  Randall  was  appointed,  the  salary  was 
fixed  at  SHOO. 
p 


2io  The  New  York  Public  School 

tion  in  Brooklyn,  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Education  ; 
in  the  same  year  the  title  of  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  was 
changed  to  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  and  his  term 
extended  from  one  year  to  three,  and  the  Board  was  empowered 
to  appoint  not  more  than  two  Associate  Superintendents,  also 
for  terms  of  three  years. 

A  singular  question  arose  in  1876  as  to  the  terms  of  members 
of  the  Board.  The  amended  charter  of  Brooklyn  (Chapter  377, 
laws  of  1880),  by  a  general  provision,  fixed  the  terms  of  office  of 
all  heads  of  departments  at  two  years.  There  was  no  specific 
mention  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  in  1882  Mayor  Seth 
Low,  taking  it  for  granted  "that  the  Legislature  intended 
no  change  in  the  term  of  office  of  the  members  of  the  Board," 
announced  that  he  should  make  all  appointments  for  three  years. 
"  It  is  not  to  be  lightly  assumed,"  he  said,  "  that  the  Legislature 
intended  in  an  inferential  way  to  change  the  whole  structure  of 
the  Board."  But  in  1886  his  successor  (Daniel  D.  Whitney) 
took  another  view  of  the  law,  decided  that  the  terms  of  the 
members  appointed  two  years  before  had  expired,  and  appointed 
their  successors  for  two-year  terms.  Some  confusion  resulted, 
and  doubt  was  thrown  upon  the  legality  of  acts  of  the  Board. 
To  settle  the  question  the  Legislature  was  appealed  to,  and  a 
law  was  passed  in  1887  definitely  fixing  the  term  at  three  years 
and  extending  the  terms  of  the  members  appointed  in  1885 
and  1886. 

An  innovation  deserving  of  mention  was  made  in  1895,  when 
five  women  were  appointed  members  of  the  Board.1  They 
served  for  three  years,  for  the  last  few  months  of  their  terms  as 
members  of  the  School  Board  for  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn. 

The  offices  and  "  depot "  of  the  Board  for  the  first  few  years 
were  in  the  City  Hall,  and  for  a  time  in  School  No.  i,  but  in 
1854  the  Board  took  possession  of  an  old  residence  on  the 

1  The  appointments  were  made  by  Mayor  Charles  A.  Schieren.  The  women 
were  Miss  Isabel  M.  Chapman,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Jacobs,  Mrs.  Ellen  F.  Pettengill,  Miss 
Elizabeth  H.  Perry,  and  Mrs.  Julia  M.  Powell. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  —  Organization     2 1 1 

easterly  side  of  Red  Hook  lane,  between  Fulton  and  Living- 
ston streets,  which  had  been  built  just  outside  of  the  village 
limits  by  James  E.  Underbill,  about  1830. 

"  As  late  as  1830,  Fulton  street  and  Red  Hook  lane  remained  the  principal 
thoroughfares  of  the  village  of  Brooklyn.  The  corporate  limits  of  the  village 
on  the  east  was  (sic}  the  lane,  and  upon  it,  just  outside  of  the  embryo  city, 
James  E.  Underhill,  a  successful  builder,  erected  the  pretentious  and,  what  was 
then  considered,  splendid  structure  now  [1884]  occupied  by  the  Board  of 
Education.  Red  Hook  lane  was  then  a  thronged  and  busy  thoroughfare, 
affording  the  only  means  of  access  to  the  numerous  mills  and  farms  of  South 
Brooklyn  and  the  Hook.  The  farm  of  Tunis  Johnson,  covering  nearly  one 
hundred  acres,  was  bounded  by  the  lane,  and  was  the  nearest  estate  to  the 
little  corporation  of  the  village  of  Brooklyn.  On  this  prominent  corner  Mr. 
Underhill  built  his  residence,  and  only  a  few  of  the  citizens  of  Brooklyn 
remember  that  this  narrow,  secluded  lane  was,  not  many  years  ago,  one  of 
the  busiest  of  her  streets."1 

This  building  was  used,  with  some  additions,  for  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Board  and  as  a  depot  for  school  supplies  until 
1888,  when  it  was  replaced  with  a  three-story  brick  structure, 
connected  with  a  new  building  erected  on  a  lot  purchased  in 
Livingston  street.  The  cost  of  the  improvements  was  about 
$56,000,  and  they  were  paid  for  from  the  interest  on  bank 
deposits  which  had  been  allowed  to  accumulate  for  a  series  of 
years.  In  1891  the  premises  Nos.  133  and  135  Livingston  street 
were  purchased  for  the  enlargement  of  the  headquarters  building. 

Under  the  act  of  1850  the  Board  of  Education  was  prohibited 
from  purchasing  sites  for  school  buildings  without  the  approval 
of  the  Common  Council,  and  it  was  provided  that  the  title  to  all 
property  acquired  or  to  be  acquired  for  school  purposes  should 
be  vested  in  the  Board  of  Education.  Another  section  stated 

1  Stiles,  p.  615.  The  account  in  Mr.  Field's  Historical  Sketch  (pp.  xviii,  xix)  is 
in  substantially  the  same  words.  After  the  Board  bought  the  Red  Hook  lane  build- 
ing, plans  were  partly  matured  for  organizing  there  a  school  in  the  nature  of  a 
high  school,  and  definite  action  was  taken  to  the  extent  of  deciding  to  set  aside 
$1600  for  the  purpose.  It  was  believed  that  the  building  was  large  enough  for  de- 
pot purposes  and  for  the  proposed  school.  Dr.  Stiles  and  Mr.  Field  were  in  error  in 
saying  that  the  Board  of  Education  took  possession  of  the  building  in  1850. 


212  The  New  York  Piiblic  School 

that  the  money  raised  for  sites  and  for  building,  repairing,  and 
furnishing  schoolhouses  should  be  known  as  the  Special  School 
Fund,  and  all  other  moneys  as  the  General  School  Fund.1 

The  minutes  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  were  first 
printed  in  1867. 

The  size  of  the  Board  became  the  subject  of  criticism  after 
it  had  been  in  existence  thirty  or  forty  years,  and,  as  it  was 
considered  by  some  to  be  cumbrous  and  unwieldy,  numerous 
suggestions  were  offered  from  time  to  time  in  reference  to  re- 
organizing it.  The  most  noteworthy  effort  in  that  direction 
occurred  in  1894-1895,  when  an  "Advisory  Committee"  was 
appointed  by  Mayor  Schieren  to  investigate  and  report.2  The 
committee  pursued  its  inquiries  for  several  months,  and  at  length 
presented  a  unanimous  report,  accompanied  by  a  draft  of  a  bill. 
It  was  proposed  to  have  a  Board  of  Education  of  fifteen  members, 
appointed  by  the  Mayor,  with  a  salaried  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
cation as  presiding  officer,  who  should  have  a  veto  power  upon 
certain  acts  of  the  Board,  and  be  in  general  the  executive 
head  of  the  department.  The  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion was  to  be  nominated  by  the  Commissioner  and  appointed 
by  the  Board;  five  Associate  Superintendents  were  provided 
for,  at  least  two  of  them  to  be  women.  Teachers  were  to  be 
appointed  from  an  eligible  list,  and  no  one  was  to  be  licensed  to 
teach  who  had  not  had  a  four  years'  high  school  course,  or  its 
equivalent,  and  a  year  of  professional  training.  The  Committee 
urged  the  establishment  of  kindergartens.  The  bill,  as  prepared, 
was  introduced  in  the  Legislature,  but  strong  opposition  was 
made  to  it  by  the  Board  of  Education  as  a  whole  and  by  the 
teaching  force,  and  it  was  never  reported  out  of  committee. 

1  A  very  similar  provision  was  included  in  the  Greater  New  York  Charter  of 
1897,  and  retained,  in  amended  form,  in  the  Revised  Charter. 

2  The  members  of  the  Committee  were  John  K.  Creevey,  William  Harkness,  John 
C.  Kelley,  J.  Edward  Swanstrom  (then  President  of  the  Board  of  Education),  Truman 
J.  Backus,  David  H.  Cochran,  and  Charles  H.  Levermore. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


BROOKLYN   BOARD   OF  EDUCATION— 1843   TO   1854 

AT  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Education,  in  1843, 
there  were  ten  district  schools,  "  besides  two  colored  schools, 
aided  and  encouraged  by  the  Board,  but  not  yet  under  its  full 
control."  1  In  the  ten  schools  for  white  children  twenty-nine 
teachers  were  employed,  and  their  salaries  for  1843  amounted 
to  $9510,  an  average  of  $328.  The  average  attendance  for  that 
year  (including  123  in  the  colored  schools)  was  1865.  The  fol- 
lowing table,  taken  from  the  fifth  annual  report 2  of  the  first  City 
Superintendent  (for  the  year  1852),  is  interesting  as  showing  the 
growth  of  the  system  in  its  early  years : 


1843 

1844 

1845 

184G 

1847 

No.  of  School  Districts  .     .     . 

10 

10 

10 

12 

12 

"     "  District  Schools  .     .     . 

10 

10 

10 

10 

12 

"     «  Colored       "        ... 

2 

2 

2 

2 

2 

Ann.  average  attendance      .     . 
Number  of  Teachers  .... 
Am't  of  Teachers'  salaries  as 
appointed  (sic)  • 

1865 
29 

jtnr  jo 

2098 

34 

$IO  SCO 

2194 
41 

$12  77C 

2745 

66 

JU  r  6?  C 

3247 
78 

&IQ  '7'7C 

#>y^iw 

#'i<-'O3w 

1  City  Superintendent's  annual  report,  1852,  p.  7.     An  act  of  the  Legislature 
passed  in  1845  authorized  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council,  as  commissioners  of 
common  schools,  to  lay  out  one  or  more  school  districts  for  colored  children. 

2  Superintendent  Holmes's  first  annual  report  (for  1848)  was  not  printed.     His 
report  for  1849  was  ordered  to  be  printed  in  1850.     It  is  a  pamphlet  of  seventeen 
pages,  with  a  brown  paper  cover.     Copies  are  very  scarce.     It  is  noticeable  that  Mr. 
Holmes  in  this  report  argued  in  favor  of  free  text-books  for  all  pupils. 

213 


214 


The  New  York  Public  School 


The  same  report  contains  a  table  of  statistics  for  the  ensuing 
four  years,  from  which  the  following  figures  are  taken : 


1848 

1849 

1850 

1851 

No  of  School  Districts  

M 

1  1 

11 

11 

"     "    District  Schools  .               ... 

12 

I  ^ 

11 

n 

u     u    Branch  Primaries           .... 

i 

"     "    Colored  Schools                       .     . 

2 

2 

2 

2 

Average  attendance  during  year    . 
Amount    expended    for    School     sites, 
Buildings,  &c  
No.  of  Teachers  employed  

3767 
$11,140 

8c 

4326 

$2  1,  68  1 

Q4. 

5220 

$15,910 

122 

5773 

$15*755 
136 

Amount  of  Teachers'  salaries,  as  appor- 
tioned   

$2O  O7C 

$2C.^?O 

&28.2CC 

$^O,732 

The  report  also  pointed  out  that  by  a  census  taken  on  De- 
cember 31,  1850,  there  were  24,422  children  between  the  ages 
of  five  and  sixteen  in  the  city,  including  556  colored  children; 
and  that  on  August  i,  1851,  there  were  35,401  children  between 
the  ages  of  four  and  twenty-one,  including  675  colored. 

The  original  rules  and  regulations  for  the  government  of 
schools,  adopted  May  16,  1843,  have  a  curious  interest  after  the 
lapse  of  sixty  years.  There  were  two  school  sessions  daily  for 
five  days  per  week  from  April  to  October  (inclusive),  from  9 
to  12  o'clock  and  from  2  to  5  o'clock,  while  from  November  to 
March  there  was  one  session  from  9  to  3  o'clock,  with  half  an 
hour's  intermission  at  noon.  The  summer  vacation  consisted 
of  the  three  weeks  preceding  the  first  Monday  in  September ; 
the  other  holidays  were  January  ist,  May  1st,  July  4th,  Decem- 
ber 25th,  and  "all  days  appointed  by  the  public  authorities  for 
religious  observances."  1 

Provision  was  made  in  the  rules  for  "  a  depot  of  all  necessary 

1  Five  or  six  years  later  Christmas  week  was  added  to  the  holidays,  and  the 
summer  vacation  was  extended  to  include  all  of  August ;  May  ist  was  dropped  and 
February  22d  added. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  — 1843  to  1854     2 1 5 

articles  for  the  schools."  A  reminiscence  of  the  Lancasterian 
system  of  instruction  is  to  be  found  in  the  rule  that  "  The  Board 
of  Education  shall  decide  as  to  the  number  of  teachers  and 
monitors  required  for  each  school "  ;  another  in  the  provision 
that  "  each  primary  school  shall  be  furnished  with  a  sand  desk, 
desks,  lesson  boards,"  etc.  The  word  "  monitors  "  is  to  be  found 
in  the  by-laws  as  late  as  1850. 

The  schools  were  graded  from  the  beginning.  The  rules  pre- 
scribed that  there  should  be  three  departments  in  each  school 
as  far  as  practicable  —  "  Male,"  "  Female,"  and  "  Primary." 
The  course  of  instruction  in  the  two  former  embraced  "  Spelling, 
Reading,  Writing,  Definitions,  Grammar,  Composition,  Declama- 
tion, Geography,  History,  Arithmetic  and  Algebra ;  and  as  far 
as  practicable,  the  use  of  the  globes,  drawing  of  maps,  Geometry, 
Trigonometry,  Natural  Philosophy  and  Astronomy."  Before 
1850  vocal  music1  was  inserted  in  the  course  of  instruction  in 
place  of  algebra,  the  latter  being  transferred  to  the  subjects  to 
be  pursued  ^s  far  as  practicable,"  and  in  place  of  "  drawing  of 
maps,"  appeared  "  Drawing,  (especially  the  Drawing  of  Maps)." 
By  this  time,  too,  sand  desks  were  omitted  from  the  equipment 
of  primary  schools.  The  original  rule  provided  that  in  the 
higher  schools  "  the  girls  may  be  taught  plain  sewing  and  draw- 
ing "  on  Friday  afternoons.  Another  rule  was  the  following : 
"  The  several  teachers,  whether  principals,  assistants  or  moni- 
tors, shall  hold  their  positions  during  the  pleasure  of  the  Board." 

Very  early  in  its  history  the  Board  took  up  the  question  of 
organizing  a  Saturday  Normal  School,  and  such  a  school  was 
opened  in  October,  1843,  in  the  building  of  School  No.  7,  all 
the  teachers  in  the  primary  departments  being  required  to  at- 
tend it.  Because  of  doubt  as  to  the  legality  of  using  educational 
moneys  for  maintaining  a  school  of  this  character,  the  school 
was  closed  after  a  few  months. 

1  At  the  fourth  meeting  of  the  Board  (May  23,  1843)  *ne  question  of  appointing 
a  music  teacher  was  brought  forward  ;  in  September  the  salary  was  fixed  at  $500,  and 
in  October  two  teachers  of  music  were  appointed. 


216  The  New  York  Public  School 

The  by-laws  of  1843  provided  for  district  committees,  con- 
sisting of  the  members  for  each  school  district,  to  whose  charge 
the  schools  of  the  district  were  specially  committed ;  but  as 
early  as  1851  a  school  committee  of  three  members  was  ap- 
pointed for  each  school.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  "  local 
committee  system,"  to  which  reference  will  be  made  in  a  later 
chapter  (see  Chapter  XXIX). 

In  1852  seventeen  buildings  were  used  for  public  school  pur- 
poses, two  being  hired  for  branch  primary  schools.  Of  the 
fifteen  schoolhouses  owned  by  the  Board,  thirteen  had  been 
erected  since  1843.  The  average  attendance  of  pupils  for  the 
year  was  6338  (including  220  colored  children).  There  were  157 
teachers — 18  men  (15  principals,  I  assistant,  and  2  music 
teachers)  and  139  women  (29  first  teachers  and  no  assistants). 
The  salaries  paid  to  them  amounted  to  $3  5, 063. *  The  appropria- 
tion for  the  support  of  the  schools  for  the  year  was  $48,403.74, 
of  which  $23,403.74  was  received  from  the  State  and  $25,000 
was  raised  by  taxation.  During  the  year  the  Board  also  "  ad- 
vanced for  the  purchase  of  school  sites,  and  for  the  erection, 
enlarging,  and  repairing  of  school  houses,  the  sum  of  $33,861;" 
making  a  total  expenditure  for  the  year  of  $82,264.74.  For 
1853  the  school  appropriation  was  $48,792.65. 

One  of  the  functions  of  the  City  Superintendent  was  to 
license  teachers ;  during  1852  the  number  of  persons  licensed 
was  147. 

The  first  evening  school  in  Brooklyn  was  opened  on  Octo- 
ber 20,  1 85 1,2  in  Schoolhouse  No.  I,  with  departments  for  both 
sexes.  At  first  pupils  in  evening  schools  were  furnished  with 
free  text-books,  but  the  practice  was  not  continued. 

1  The  "  salaries  of  Superintendent,  Secretary,  Clerk,  and  Messenger  "  for  1852 
amounted  to  $1500,  as  stated  in  the  Superintendent's  report. 

2  This  date  is  taken  from  Superintendent  Holmes's  report  for  1851,  p.  5.    That  it 
is  the  correct  date  is  evident  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board.     The  report  made  by 
President  Tunis  G.  Bergen  to  the  Mayor  under  date  of  December  18,  1884,  stated 
(p.  34)  that  "The  evening  schools  have  been  established  for  about  forty  years"! 
The  evening  schools  were  organized  under  a  provision  of  the  act  passed  in  1850. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  —  1843  to  1854     2 1 7 

Until  1849  the  children  attending  the  public  schools  pur- 
chased their  books  at  bookstores,  paying,  of  course,  regular 
retail  prices.  About  that  time  the  Board  of  Education  decided 
to  buy  school  books  in  quantities  and  to  establish  a  "  depot " 
from  which  they  could  be  furnished  to  the  pupils  at  cost  price. 
Referring  to  this  plan,  President  Smith,  in  a  report  to  the  Com- 
mon Council,  dated  August  i,  1854,  said  that  "the  Board  not 
having  means  at  its  command  to  furnish  these  books  to  the 
pupils  gratis,  determined  to  cheapen  their  cost,  and  now  pur- 
chase them  in  large  quantities,  so  as  to  obtain  (and  does  obtain 
them)  at  the  lowest  cash  prices.  Placed  in  the  '  Depot,'  they 
are  thence  furnished  daily  by  the  Clerk,  on  requisition  of  the 
Principals,  who  are  required  by  the  rules  of  the  Board,  to  sell 
them  to  the  pupils  at  cost."  a 

This  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction ;  but  more  than 
thirty  years  were  to  elapse  before  the  Board  of  Education 
arranged  to  furnish  all  pupils  with  free  text-books,  on  the  plan 
followed  in  New  York  from  the  time  of  the  foundation  of  the 
Free  School  Society.  Books  were  furnished  free,  under  the 
"  rules  to  be  observed  in  transactions  with  depot,"  "to  destitute 
scholars  upon  the  written  order  of  the  Principal  thereof, 
endorsed  by  one  or  more  of  the  School  Committee  with  name 
and  residence  of  Pupil  and  Parents,  stating  their  known  inability 
to  pay  for  the  same  "  ;  and  the  following  articles  were  pro- 
vided for  all  without  charge :  "  Pens  and  Pen-holders,  Writing 
Paper,  Copy  Slips,  and  Slate  Pencils,  Pails,  Dippers,  Brooms, 
Mats,  Brushes,  Towels,  Chalk  or  Crayons  and  Sponge." 

The  earliest  attempt  to  supply  free  books  in  the  present 
territory  of  Brooklyn  appears  to  have  been  made  in  the  village 
of  Williamsburgh  in  1844.  It  is  thus  described  by  Samuel  E. 
Johnson,  County  Superintendent  of  Kings  County,  in  a  report 
to  the  State  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  October  I, 
1844:  "The  greatest  difficulty  the  teachers  have  to  contend 

1  The  report  mentioned  contains  the  following  item  : 

"Stage  fare  sending  to  Depot  for  books  .  .  .  $12.63." 


218  The  New  York  Public  School 

with  is  the  neglect  of  parents  to  provide  their  children  with  text- 
books. Many  come  to  the  school,  week  after  week,  without  them, 
and  for  all  the  knowledge  they  acquire,  they  might  as  well  be  at 
home.  The  only  remedy  that  I  can  suggest,  is  the  one  that  the 
citizens  of  the  village  of  Williamsburgh  have  adopted.  Last 
winter  they  applied  to  and  obtained  from  the  Legislature  of  this 
State  permission  to  tax  themselves  for  almost  any  school  pur- 
pose they  pleased  ;  they  have  accordingly  taxed  themselves  to 
purchase  school  books  for  the  schools,  which  are  the  property 
of  the  district,  and  are  loaned  to  the  scholars.  This  has 
remedied  the  evil  wholly  in  that  town,  and  the  plan  is  certainly 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  department." 

Williamsburgh  became  a  city  in  1852,  and  at  the  time  it  was 
united  with  Brooklyn  (January  i,  1855)  its  schools  were  fur- 
nished with  free  books  by  the  Board  of  Education.1 

To  complete  the  record  on  this  subject  it  may  be  added  that 
in  his  report  for  1850  Superintendent  Holmes  recommended 
that  spelling,  reading,  and  writing  books,  at  least,  be  furnished 
free. 

A  singular  entry  occurs  in  the  minutes  of  the  Board  for 
January  6,  1852,  when  it  was  decided  to  appoint  a  "floating 
teacher  in  the  Male  Department  of  No.  13  at  $18  per  month  for 
the  present;  salary  to  commence  from  ist  of  Dec.";  which  is 
followed  by  this  explanation  :  "  last  intended  mainly  to  assist 
the  Principal  and  take  charge  of  his  classes  while  he  is  inspect- 
ing the  other  Departments  and  classes." 


OFFICERS  OF  BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  —  1843  TO 

President 

Dr.  Theodore  F.  King2     .     1843  (from  May  2d  to  December  3ist) 
Dr.  J.  Sullivan  Thome'2    .     1844  (from  January  2d),  1845  (to  March  4th) 
Theodore  Eames2    .     .     .     1845  (from  March  4th)  ,  1846  (to  February  3d) 
Stephen  Haynes2     .     .     .     1846  (from  February  3d),  1847  (to  February  2d) 
Cyrus  P.  Smith2      .     .     .     1847  (from  February  2d)-i  854 

-     !  See  report  of  City  Superintendent  Bulkley  covering  the  year  1859,  p.  7. 
2  Deceased. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  — 1843  to  1854     2 1 9 

Vice-President 

Stephen  Haynes x 1843-1846 

James  E.  Underbill x      .         .         .   -     .  1846,1847 

Dr.  John  W.  Moriarty !          .         .         .  1847,1848 

Peter  G.  Bergen !  ....  1848,1849 

Alfred  G.  Stevens1         ....  1849-1851 

Dr.  J.  Sullivan  Thome1         .         .         .  1851-1854 

Edward  W.  Dunham 1   ....  1854 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 

Dr.  J.  Sullivan  Thome1         .         .         .  1848  (from  March  7th  to  May  gth) 

Samuel  L.  Holmes  *       ....  1848  (from  May  9^-1853  (May) 

Samuel  S.  Randall1       .         .  .  1853  (from  October  4th) 

J.  D.  Giddings  x 1854  (from  February  21  st) 

1  Deceased. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
BROOKLYN   BOARD   OF   EDUCATION  — 1855   TO   1875 

UPON  the  consolidation  of  the  city  of  Williamsburgh  and 
the  village  of  Bush  wick  with  Brooklyn,  at  the  beginning  of  1855, 
three  dissimilar  educational  systems  were  brought  together. 
Brooklyn  had  a  Board  of  Education  consisting  of  thirty-three 
members,  under  whose  control  were  sixteen  schoolhouses  (two  of 
them  for  colored  children),  besides  two  rented  buildings  used 
for  primary  schools.  There  were  174  teachers  and  11,500 
pupils.  In  Williamsburgh  there  was  a  Board  of  Education  of 
eighteen  members,  —  nine  Trustees  and  nine  Commissioners,  — 
with  seven  schools  for  white  and  one  for  colored  children,  and 
three  hired  houses  for  primary  schools  ;  there  were  100  teachers 
and  5787  pupils.  The  three  schools  in  Bush  wick,  having  six- 
teen teachers  and  1050  pupils,  were  conducted  under  the  State 
school  laws.  There  were  at  this  time  two  music  teachers  in 
Brooklyn  and  one  in  Williamsburgh. 

Early  in  1855  John  W.  Bulkley  l  was  elected  City  Superin- 
tendent and  Secretary  ex  officio.  He  acted  in  the  latter  capacity 
until  1857,  when  a  salaried  Secretary  was  first  appointed.  In 
his  first  report  he  stated  that  there  were  in  the  city  forty  gram- 
mar schools  for  boys  and  the  same  number  for  girls,  twenty- 
nine  primary  schools  for  both  boys  and  girls,  and  six  grammar 
and  three  primary  schools  for  colored  children  —  in  all  seventy- 

1  It  is  significant  that  a  Williamsburgh  man  was  elevated  to  this  office.  Mr. 
Bulkley  at  the  time  of  his  election  was  principal  of  the  school  that,  under  consolida- 
tion, became  No.  19.  The  election  was  a  close  one,  Mr.  Bulkley  on  the  decisive 
ballot  receiving  20  votes,  against  19  cast  for  his  principal  rival,  J.  D.  Giddings,  who 
had  been  Superintendent  in  Brooklyn  during  the  preceding  year. 

220 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  —  /#55  to  1875     221 

eight  schools,  housed  in  thirty  buildings,  twenty-seven  of  which 
were  the  property  of  the  Board  and  three  leased.1 

The  brief  experiment  with  a  Saturday  Normal  School  in 
Brooklyn  has  been  mentioned.  Before  its  union  with  Brooklyn 
there  had  been  in  Williamsburgh  a  similar  Normal  School  for 
the  training  of  inexperienced  teachers,  which  was  established 
about  1853.  It  was  closed  after  the  consolidation  of  the  cities, 
and  a  little  later  the  Board  of  Education  decided  to  establish  a 
school  of  this  kind  in  a  more  central  locality.  The  plan  was 
carried  out,  and  the  school  organized  in  new  school  building 
No.  14,  in  February,  1856.  All  the  women  teachers  in  the 
schools  were  required  to  attend  its  sessions,  and  there  were  a 
few  other  pupils.  The  graduation  exercises  were  important 
public  affairs  in  the  Brooklyn  of  that  day,  at  least  one  of  them 
being  held  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  and  were  attended  by 
enthusiastic  throngs  of  people.  How  they  were  regarded  is 
shown  by  an  excerpt  from  the  account  published  in  one  of  the 
local  papers  on  February  15,  1861  : 

"  Last  evening  the  Commencement  Exercises  of  the  Brooklyn  Normal 
School  took  place  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  before  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  brilliant  audiences  that  has  ever  been  assembled  within  its  walls.  Here 
were  concentrated  the  learning,  fashion,  and  beauty  of  the  city.  It  would  be 
invidious  to  mention  the  names  of  any  of  the  distinguished  persons  present, 
as  almost  every  person  of  any  note  in  the  city  was  in  the  audience." 

Nevertheless,  the  Normal  School  was  closed  in  June,  1861, 

1  The  locations  of  some  of  the  schools  as  set  down  fifty  years  ago  may  be  worthy 
of  casual  notice.  For  instance  : 

No.  2  —  Gowanus 

No.  9  —  Prospect  Hill 

No.  22  —  Green  Point 

(In  the  reports  for  1859  and  1860  this  school  was  located  in  J  street) 

No.  23  —  Bushwick  Centre 

No.  24  —  Bushwick  Cross-Roads 

Colored  School  No.  2  —  Weeksville  (in  the  vicinity  of  Troy  avenue  and  Pacific 
street) 

In  the  report  for  1857  and  several  succeeding  years  No.  26  was  stated  to  be  at 
Bowronville.  (This  was  east  of  Broadway  and  near  the  present  Flushing  avenue.) 


222  The  New  York  Public  School 

not  to  be  reopened.1  The  subject  was  revived  again  a  dozen 
years  later. 

The  City  Superintendent  was  the  sole  supervising  official 
until  1866,  when  a  special  act  of  the  Legislature  authorized 
the  Board  of  Education  to  appoint  an  Assistant  Superinten- 
dent. In  June  of  that  year  James  Cruikshank2  was  elected  to 
the  office.  Increased  provision  for  supervision  gave  a  new 
impulse  to  pedagogical  work,  the  results  of  which  were  soon  seen 
in  a  course  of  study,  uniform  for  all  schools,  which  was  adopted 
in  November,  1866,  and  also  in  arrangements  for  systematic 
instruction  of  the  primary  teachers  in  principles  and  methods. 
Under  the  direction  of  the  Assistant  Superintendent,  two  train- 
ing or  normal  classes  for  these  teachers  were  organized  in 
December  of  that  year,  and  continued  until  the  close  of  the 
schools  in  the  following  summer.  They  were  then  suspended 
by  order  of  the  Normal  School  Committee,  which  hoped 
to  supersede  them  with  a  regularly  organized  normal  school. 
Repeated  recommendations  in  reference  to  this  matter  are 
to  be  found  in  the  records  of  the  Board  and  the  reports  of 
the  Superintendent ;  but  no  decisive  action  was  taken  until 
1884. 

The  simple  course  of  studies  prescribed  for  the  schools  in  the 
earlier  period  has  been  set  forth  in  the  preceding  chapter,  and 
no  change  was  made  in  it  for  many  years.  In  his  first  report 
(for  1855)  Superintendent  Bulkley  presented  an  "  outline  of  a 
graded  course  of  study  for  the  primary  and  grammar  depart- 
ments of  the  schools,  and  their  several  classes,"  and  this  was 
revised  in  1862.  It  served  as  a  guide,  or  series  of  suggestions, 
for  principals  and  teachers.  A  regular  and  uniform  course  of 
study  was  not  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Education  until  Novem- 

1  Note  that  the  similar  schools  in  New  York  were  discontinued  in  the  same  year 
(see  Chapter  XIX). 

2  He  had  been  for  some  years  connected  with  the  State  Department  of  Public 
Instruction,  giving  special  attention  to  teachers'  institutes.     He  served  as  Assistant 
Superintendent  for  about  six  years.     In  1875  he  assumed  the  principalship  of  School 
No.  12,  which  he  still  holds. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  —  /<?55  to  1875     223 

ber,  1866.  The  course  then  agreed  upon  prescribed  the  studies 
to  be  pursued  in  the  six  primary  and  six  grammar  grades  (the 
sixth  being  the  lowest  and  the  first  the  highest),  the  course 
covering  six  school  years.  Great  prominence  was  given  to  oral 
instruction  or  object  teaching.  In  the  highest  grammar  grade 
the  studies  were  as  follows  :  Reading,  spelling,  penmanship, 
drawing  in  general,  arithmetic,  algebra  (through  simple  equa- 
tions), geography  (including  outlines  of  physical  geography, 
with  general  history  and  historical  essays),  grammar  (structure 
and  classification  of  sentences,  idiomatic  structure,  analysis  and 
parsing,  composition,  elements  of  rhetoric),  formal  essays,  nat- 
ural philosophy  and  astronomy,  bookkeeping,  physiology,  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States,  and  oral  instruction  in  elements 
of  geometry,  construction  of  problems,  geology,  and  the  use  of 
globes.  Vocal  music  was  required  to  be  taught  in  all  the 
grades. 

Provision  was  also  made  for  a  supplementary  course,  to 
"  occupy  a  period  of  one  year  or  more,  as  may  be  necessary," 
including  the  following  branches  of  study :  Arithmetic  (written 
and  mental,  reviewed,  higher  arithmetic),  algebra,  geometry 
(first  four  books  of  Legendre),  English  grammaT'(critical  study 
of  its  principles),  compositions  and  written  reviews,  rhetoric 
and  general  literature,  ancient  and  modern  history,  physical 
geography,  reading  in  prose  and  poetry,  natural  philosophy, 
astronomy,  physiology,  chemistry,  bookkeeping  and  business 
correspondence,  drawing  (including  mechanical  and  architec- 
tural), and  mensuration.  A  supplementary  class  was  to  be 
formed  in  any  grammar  school  when,  on  examination,  fifteen 
pupils  were  found  qualified  to  pursue  the  higher  studies.  At 
the  beginning  of  the  next  year  supplementary  classes  had  been 
formed  in  five  schools. 

At  this  time  the  schools  were  classified  as  grammar,  inter- 
mediate, and  primary,  an  intermediate  school  being  one  in 
which  all  the  primary  grades  and  several  of  the  lower  grammar 
grades  were  taught.  In  1866  a  single  and  uniform  series  of 


224  The  New   York  Public  School 

text-books  was  also  adopted.  In  1869,  when  a  change  of  books 
was  made,  the  course  of  study  was  slightly  modified  to  conform 
therewith,  and  similar  modifications  took  place  later. 

In  1874  a  rule  was  adopted  providing  for  a  uniform  and 
simultaneous  examination  of  all  the  graduates  of  the  grammar 
schools;  before  that  time  each  school  had  been  a  distinct 
organization,  maintained  with  but  little  relation  to  the  other 
schools  in  the  system. 

During  the  period  under  review  the  evening  schools  were 
continued  every  winter,  with  a  single  exception  in  1862-1863, 
when,  on  account  of  the  excitement  occasioned  by  the  Civil 
War,  and  the  supposed  absence  from  the  city  of  a  large  num- 
ber of  young  men  who  would  be  likely  to  attend  them,  they 
were  omitted.  For  the  first  few  years  after  the  establishment 
of  these  schools  they  were  open  only  in  the  autumn  and  early 
winter,  but  in  1857  there  was  a  short  term  after  the  Christmas 
holidays.  The  practice  in  this  respect,  however,  was  not  uni- 
form. The  season  usually  covered  twelve  or  sixteen  weeks,  but 
in  January,  1875,  it  was  extended  to  eighteen.  A  step  of  im- 
portance was  taken  in  September,  1874,  when  the  first  evening 
high  school  was  organized,  in  School  No.  4.  In  this  matter 
Brooklyn  followed  rather  tardily  after  New  York,  where  an 
evening  high  school  was  established  in  1866. 

The  question  of  free  text-books  was  agitated  in  the  Board  in 
1868,  and  an  appropriation  of  $40,000  for  putting  the  plan  into 
effect  was  secured  for  that  year.  It  could  not  be  continued 
longer,  as  the  necessary  funds  were  not  provided. 

OFFICERS  OF  BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1855  TO  1875 

President 

Cyrus  P.  Smith  *    .....     1855-1868  (to  March  loth) 

Dr.  J.  Sullivan  Thorne1  .     .     .     1868  (from  March  ioth)-i87o  (to  July  I2th) 

Ephraim  J.  Whitlock1    .     .     .     1870  (from  July  I2th)-i 875 

1  Deceased. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  —  /#55  to  1875     225 


Vice-president 

Edward  W.  Dunham  *    .     .    .  1855-1857 

Abraham  B.  Baylis1  .     .     .     .  1857,1858 

John  G.  Bergen  *   .....  1859,1860 

D.  L.  Northup1     .....  1861,1862 

Dr.  J.  Sullivan  Thorne1.     .     .  1863-1867 

Henry  R.  Pierson  *    ....  1868 

Ephraim  J.  Whitlock  J    .     .     .  1869-1870 

John  W.  Hunter1  .....  1870-1871 

James  Murphy  ......  1871-1875 

Secretary 
George  A.  W.  Stuart      .     .    .     1857-1875 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools* 

J.  D.  Giddings1     .....     1855  (to  February  2oth) 

John  W.  Bulkley1      ....     1855  (from  February  2oth)-i  873  (to  July  8th) 

Thomas  W.  Field  !    ....     1873  (from  July  8th)-i  875 

Assistant  Superintendents  of  Schools 

James  Cruikshank      ....     1866-1872  (to  August  6th) 

Thomas  W.  Field1    ....     1873  (from  February  4th  to  July  8th) 

John  W.  Bulkley  J     ....     1873  (from  July  8th)-i  875 

Superintendent  of  Repairs 
Samuel  B.  Leonard  l      .     .     .     1856-1875 

1  Deceased. 

2  Title  changed  to  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  1873. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 
BROOKLYN  BOARD   OF   EDUCATION— 1876  TO    1897 

THE  most  marked  features  of  the  period  we  are  now  enter- 
ing upon  were  the  establishment  of  the  Training  School  for 
Teachers  and  the  development  of  the  high  schools.  \  These 
topics  will  be  treated  in  a  separate  chapter  (see  Chapter  XXVIII). 

The  expansion  of  the  school  system  was  steady  from  the 
time  Williamsburgh  was  united  with  Brooklyn,  in  1855.  In 
1886  the  town  of  New  Lots  (containing  East  New  York)  was 
annexed  to  the  city,  adding  six  to  the  number  of  schools  and 
raising  the  total  (including  the  Training  School,  Central  Schools, 
colored  schools,  and  attendance  schools)  to  seventy.  The  ele- 
mentary schools  were  now  classified  as  grammar,  intermediate 
and  primary,  and  branch  primary;  after  1890  the  classifica- 
tion was  as  follows :  Grammar  schools,  independent  intermedi- 
ate schools,  independent  primary  schools,  branch  intermediate 
schools,  and  branch  primary  schools.  There  were  no  colored 
schools,  as  such,  after  1890. 

Many  of  the  grammar  schools  had  three  departments  (gram- 
mar, intermediate,  and  primary) ;  others  had  two.  The  depart- 
ments, however,  were  not  counted  as  separate  schools,  as  was 
done  in  New  York  and  some  other  cities ;  there  was  only  one 
principal,  who  had  special  charge  of  the  grammar  department ; 
under  his  direction  other  departments  were  in  charge  of  teach- 
ers known  as  heads  of  departments,1  and  a  branch  principal 

1  In  the  course  of  time  the  heads  of  departments  (who  were  practically  assistant 
principals)  became  very  numerous ;  and  complaints  about  the  excessive  and  expensive 
amount  of  supervision  in  the  schools  were  frequent  in  the  Superintendent's  reports 
during  the  later  years  of  Brooklyn's  existence  as  an  independent  city. 

226 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  —  1876  to  1897     227 

was  placed  over  a  branch  school,  being  responsible  to  the  prin- 
cipal of  the  main  school.  In  the  grammar  schools  all  grades 
were  taught,  both  grammar  and  primary;  in  the  intermediate 
schools,  several  lower  grammar  grades  and  all  the  primary 
grades.1 

There  was  an  addition  to  the  system  of  seventeen  schools  in 
1894,  when  the  towns  of  Flatbush,  Gravesend,  and  New  Utrecht 
were  taken  into  the  city,  and  five  more  were  added  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  by  the  annexation  of  Flatlands,  bringing  the  total 
up  to  1 14.  Many  of  the  schools  in  the  so-called  county  towns 
were  small  and  poorly  housed.  One  of  the  New  Lots  school- 
houses  was  so  inadequate  that  it  was  closed  soon  after  coming 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Board,  and  the  classes  were  trans- 
ferred to  other  schools. 

To  secure  the  enforcement  of  the  Compulsory  Education 
Law,  enacted  in  1874,  the  Board  of  Education  in  1876  appointed 
a  Superintendent  of  Truancy  and  five  attendance  agents.  There 
was  an  institution  on  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  city,  known 
as  the  Truant  Home,  of  unsavory  reputation,  which  was  under 
the  control  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  and  was  used  for  the  con- 
finement of  youthful  criminals.  The  Truant  Home  had  been 
established  by  the  Common  Council  in  1857,  under  the  law  of 
1853  entitled  "  An  act  to  provide  for  the  care  and  instruction  of 
idle  and  truant  children,"  of  which  mention  was  made  in  Chap- 
ter XX.  A  superintendent  and  teachers  were  appointed,  and 
three  truant  officers  were  employed  for  a  number  of  years,  until 
the  Mayor,  in  1862,  taking  exception  to  some  provisions  of  the 
law,  refused  to  pay  their  salaries.  In  1865  several  members  of 
the  "  Sanitary  Police  "  were  detailed  to  act  as  truant  officers. 
Superintendent  Bulkley  thought  well  of  the  Truant  Home,  but 
repeatedly  recommended  that  it  be  placed  under  the  care  of  the 
Board  of  Education  (see  his  reports  for  1860,  1862,  and  1863). 

This  "  Home  "  was  turned  over  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen, 

1  In  the  earlier  years  the  primary  schools  and  the  colored  schools  were  numbered 
separately  from  the  others ;  after  1887  all  the  schools  were  numbered  consecutively. 


228  The  New  York  Public  School 

in  June,  1876,  to  the  Board  of  Education.  After  a  number  of 
truants  had  been  sent  there,  a  conflict  of  authority  arose,  and  for 
some  months  no  truants  were  committed  to  the  institution.  In 
January,  1878,  the  Board  of  Aldermen  resumed  control.  The 
experiment  had  been  a  costly  one  for  the  Board  of  Education, 
as  during  the  time  it  was  in  charge  of  the  Truant  Home  the 
average  cost  of  the  maintenance  and  tuition  of  a  truant  pupil 
was  nearly  $300  per  annum.  After  the  second  change  in 
management,  incorrigible  truants  were  still  committed  to  the 
institution,  against  the  protest  of  the  educational  authorities,  who 
repeatedly  expressed  the  belief  that  truant  boys  should  not  con- 
sort with  youthful  criminals. 

In  1878  two  so-called  attendance  schools  were  established  by 
the  Board  of  Education  (one  in  the  Eastern  and  one  in  the  West- 
ern District)  for  the  instruction  of  truants  who  had  not  become 
incorrigible,  but  who  could  not  be  induced  to  attend  the  regular 
schools.  They  were  an  intermediate  step  between  the  public 
schools  and  the  Truant  Home.  These  schools  were  fairly  suc- 
cessful, and  were  maintained  until  1893. 

The  office  of  Superintendent  of  Truancy  was  abolished  in 
1887,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  law  placed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction,  the  number  of 
attendance  officers  being  reduced  from  nine  to  seven.  In  1894 
the  Legislature  finally  passed  a  law  transferring  the  Truant 
Home  to  the  Board  of  Education,  and  in  1895  it  was  reorganized 
as  the  Truant  School  and  placed  in  charge  of  a  principal. 

After  the  experiment  made  in  1868,  the  question  of  free 
books  lay  dormant  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1881  the  subject 
was  reopened  and  a  bill  was  passed  by  both  houses  of  the  Legis- 
lature providing  for  free  text-books  in  Brooklyn ;  but  it  was 
vetoed  by  the  Governor,  Alonzo  B.  Cornell,  on  the  ground  that 
the  Board  of  Education  possessed  all  needful  power  in  the  matter. 
It  was  not^ntil  1884  that  thd^free  book  system  was  instituted, 
an  appropriation  of  $75,000  for  the  purpose  having  been  allowed 
in  the  preceding  year.  It  was  successful  from  the  start.  The 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  — 1876  to  1897     229 

following  reference  to  the  matter  in  the  annual  report  of  the 
President  for  1886  is  pertinent:  "The  proposition  to  furnish 
books  free  encountered  much  opposition  at  first,  both  in  the 
Board  and  out  of  it,  but  the  system  has  been  so  successfully  put 
into  operation,  a  result  largely  due  to  the  united  and  zealous 
labors  of  the  Committee  having  the  matter  in  hand,  that  it 
is  believed  that  many  former  enemies  of  the  measure  have 
become  its  friends,  and  that  far  more  strenuous  opposition 
would  now  be  exerted  against  the  abolition  of  the  system  than 
was  manifested  three  years  ago  against  its  establishment" 

(p.  22). 

A  second  evening  high  school  was  organized  in  the  Eastern 
District  in  1880  ;  it  was  opened  to  both  sexes,  whereas  only  boys 
and  men  were  admitted  to  Evening  High  School  No.  i  for  the 
first  two  or  three  years  after  it  was  started.  In  1884  instruction 
in  German  and  Spanish  was  introduced  in  the  evening  high 
schools.  Throughout  the  period  under  review  the  regular  even- 
ing schools  were  continued  as  before,  although  in  1895-1896  the 
appropriation  allowed  for  them  was  so  meagre  that  the  schools 
were  in  session  only  twenty-five  nights,  distributed  through  a 
term  of  nine  weeks.  The  Superintendent  in  his  report  for  1878 
referred  to  the  evening  schools  as  having  "  practically  free  text- 
books and  apparatus."  From  and  after  1882  a  more  stable 
character  was  given  to  these  schools  by  new  rules,  which  made 
practically  permanent  the  positions  of  teachers  in  them  who  were 
successful  in  disciplining  and  governing  their  classes,  whereas 
before  that  time  teachers  were  appointed  at  the  beginning  of 
each  term. 

An  important  law  was  passed  in  1895  (Chapter  656)  provid- 
ing for  a  Teachers'  Retirement  Fund,  to  be  made  up  by  deduct- 
ing one  per  cent,  per  annum  from  the  salaries  of  teachers  then 
in  the  system  who  should  elect  to  come  under  the  provisions  of 
the  act,  and  also  from  the  salaries  of  all  teachers  appointed  after 
January  i,  1896.  The  law  provided  that  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion might  "retire  from  active  service  any  male  teacher  not 


230  The  New  York  Public  School 

under  sixty  years  of  age,  or  any  female  teacher  not  under  fifty- 
five  years  of  age  in  its  employ  who  has  elected  to  come  under 
the  provisions  of  this  act,  or  who  shall  be  appointed  on  and 
after  January  one,  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-six,  and  who 
has  taught  not  less  than  thirty  years,  of  which  twenty  immedi- 
ately preceding  the  proposed  retirement  shall  have  been  in  the 
public  schools  of  Brooklyn."  The  annuity  was  fixed  at  one-half 
the  salary  received  at  the  time  of  retirement,  and  was  in  no  case 
to  exceed  $1200.  The  act  also  provided  that  "no  teacher  shall 
be  retired  until  he  or  she  shall  have  paid  into  the  retirement 
fund  an  amount  equal  to  twenty  per  centum  of  his  or  her  annual 
salary  at  the  time  of  retirement."  The  fund  at  the  close  of  1896 
amounted  to  $18,869.34.  During  that  year  sixteen  teachers 
were  retired,  their  annuities  amounting  to  $8800;  under  the 
provision  last  quoted,  they  contributed  $2598.05  to  the  fund. 

*  The  course  of  study  adopted  in  1866  was  retained  with  but 
little  change  for  upwards  of  twenty  years.  In  November,  1882, 
the  matter  of  revising  it  was  referred  to""3[  committee,  and 
the  subject  received  most  careful  consideration  during  several 
years  following.  The  new  course  was  finally  put  into  effect  in 
September,  1887.  The  topic  was  treated  at  some  length  in 
the  President's  report  for  that  year,  from  which  the  following 
extract  is  taken : 

"  The  most  important  event  of  the  year  was  the  adoption 
of  the  New  Course  of  Study,  which  went  into  effect  with  the 
opening  of  the  schools  in  September.  .  .  .  The  New  Course 
requires  seven  and  one-half  years  in  the  Primary  and  Grammar 
grades.  There  has  been  a  careful  grading  of  the  work  which 
each  pupil  is  expected  to  compass.  .  .  .  The  evil  of  cramming 
should  be  cured  by  the  changes,  especially  in  the  subjects  of 
geography  and  history.  The  study  of  the  former  is  sought  to 
be  made  more  fruitful  by  specifying  salient  features  which  are 
to  be  emphasized,  and  that  of  History,  by  the  study  of  topics 
and  by  collateral  reading.  .  .  .  The  new  course  of  study  also 
seeks  to  connect  and  unite  the  work  so  that  related  topics  are 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education — 1876  to  1897     231 

intertwined  in  a  way  which  gives  strength  to  one  through  the 
other.  Thus  Language  is  sustained  by  Reading,  and  Grammar 
is  supported  by  Composition.  The  Observation  Lessons,  which 
have  been  freely  introduced,  have  aroused  much  interest  and 
excited  some  comment.  By  defining  more  accurately  require- 
ments in  other  branches,  time  for  this  new  feature  has  been 
gained.  The  test  so  far  given  indicates  that  these  lessons  will 
be  influential.  Their  object  is  to  cultivate  the  perceptive  facul- 
ties, and  at  the  same  time  to  develop  language.  These  lessons 
carry  with  them  instruction  in  Natural  Science  in  which  our 
school  system  has  been  most  imperfect,  but  they  do  not  involve 
technical  differentiation.  They  awaken  the  pupil's  curiosity  and 
give  practice  in  close  and  accurate  observation,  which  must  be 
fruitful  in  practical  life.  The  plan  of  the  course  is  to  symmet- 
rically develop  the  perceptive,  reproductive  and  reasoning  facul- 
ties of  the  mind.  The  fact  that  a  large  majority  of  the  pupils 
leave  the  schools  before  completing  the  grades  is  kept  constantly 
in  view.  There  is,  accordingly,  a  systematic  training  provided 
through  the  course,  in  Business  Forms  and  Commerical  Corre- 
spondence, and  also  in  Drawing.  Moreover  the  outlines  of  our 
country's  history  are  now  studied  in  grades  in  which  the  pupils 
are  much  younger  than  where  the  subject  was  formerly  intro- 
duced so  that  those  who  leave  school  early  have  learned  some- 
thing of  the  struggle  for  liberty"  (pp.  17,18). 
f  Under  this  course  of  study  provision  was  made  for  seven 
primary  grades  and  eight  grammar  grades,  the  entire  course 
covering  seven  and  one-half  years.  The  lowest  grade  was  the 
seventh  primary ;  the  highest  was  the  first  grammar. 

The  new  course  of  study  was  amended  somewhat  in  1892, 
and  a  general  revision  was  undertaken  some  two  years  later, 
as  it  was  believed  by  many  that  too  much  was  attempted  in 
the  schools.  In  1895  the  revised  course  was  adopted.  It  was 
described  in  the  President's  report  for  that  year  as,  perhaps, 
"  the  most  important  work  of  the  year  on  the  strictly  scholastic 
side";  and  the  report  said  further:  "The  new  course  of  study 


232  The  New  York  Public  School 

is  certainly  a  great  improvement  on  the  old.  Much  useless 
detail  that  had  accumulated  around  the  study  of  Geography, 
History,  and  Grammar,  has  been  swept  away.  What  is  left,  it 
is  important  that  all  should  know.  The  time  thus  gained,  has 
been  utilized  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  our  children  to 
good  reading  matter  and  to  all-important,  but  very  elementary, 
facts  of  science.  The  most  conspicuous  feature,  indeed,  of  the 
present  course  is  the  amount  of  reading  matter  required  or 
recommended.  From  almost  the  lowest  grade  to  the  highest, 
four  distinct  lines  of  reading  matter  are  mapped  out:  history, 
science,  geography,  and  pure  literature.  This  course  in  read- 
ing, if  industriously  pursued  by  the  pupil  and  skilfully  directed 
by  the  teacher,  is  in  itself  no  mean  education"  (p.  25). 

{  The  course  in  mathematics  was  left  substantially  unchanged. y 
The  changes  in  other  subjects,  condensed  from  the  report  of 
the  Superintendent,  may  be  summed  up  thus :  Reading  from 
regular  reading  books  diminished,  and  reading  from  supplement- 
ary readers,  covering  literature,  history,  geography,  and  science, 
increased ;  technical  grammar  begun  in  the  sixth  grammar 
grade,  instead  of  the  eighth,  and  the  time  devoted  to  this  sub- 
ject in  the  last  two  years  of  the  course  greatly  reduced ;  United 
States  history  made  a  subject  of  interesting  reading  below  the 
second  grammar  grade  (the  last  year  of  the  course),  instead  of 
being  taught  for  two  and  one-half  years  from  text-books ; 
geography  and  science  closely  connected  in  the  grammar 
school  course  ;  supplementary  reading  matter,  wherever  possi- 
ble, closely  correlated  with  other  subjects  of  study;  a  period  of 
study  required  each  day  (a  matter  previously  left  to  the  discre- 
tion of  principals  and  teachers);  about  two  hours  a  week  left 
free  to  be  devoted  by  teachers,  under  the  direction  of  the 
principals,  to  the  strengthening  of  those  studies  in  which  pupils 
were  found  particularly  weak ;  civil  government  made  a  part  of 
the  work  in  history  in  the  last  year  of  the  course. 

The  number  of  primary  grades  was  now  increased  by  one, 
raising  the  total  to  sixteen,  the  full  course  covering  eight  years. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  — 1876  to  1897     233 

Music  was  taught  in  the  schools,  as  previously  noted,  soon 
after  the  organization  of  the  Board;  in  1880  a  Director  of 
Music  was  appointed,  and  from  that  time  particular  attention 
was  given  to  this  subject ;  a  special  course  of  study  in  music 
was  adopted,  and  music  teachers  were  required  to  be  examined 
and  licensed. 

Shortly  afterward  additional  importance  was  attached  to  the 
subject  of  drawing,  and  in  1883  a  head  drawing  teacher  was 
appointed  to  oversee  this  work.  A  Supervisor  of  Drawing  was 
appointed  in  1890. 

In  1889  an  attempt  to  establish  Saturday  sewing  classes  in 
the  schools  was  defeated  in  the  Board  of  Education  by  a  small 
majority.  The  sentiment  in  favor  of  introducing  the  subject 
(which  was  made  permissible  by  the  rules  of  1843)  grew 
stronger,  and  in  1895  an  appropriation  of  $5000  was  made, 
which  enabled  the  Board  in  the  succeeding  year  to  appoint 
a  Director  of  Sewing  and  four  teachers. 

As  far  back  as  1881  the  importance  of  kindergartens  was 
appreciated  by  at  least  some  members  of  the  Board,  and  in  that 
year  the  Committee  on  Teachers  unanimously  voted  to  ask  for 
an  appropriation  of  $5000  to  permit  the  introduction  of  this 
feature.  The  seed  then  sown  bore  no  substantial  fruit  for  more 
than  ten  years;  but  in  1892  the  formation  of  a  model  kinder- 
garten class  in  the  Training  School  was  authorized.  Nothing 
else  was  done  in  this  direction,  beyond  permitting  kindergarten 
classes  to  be  maintained  by  outside  organizations  in  two  school 
buildings,  until  the  Board  of  Estimate  in  1896  allowed,  for  the 
following  year,  $12,000  for  "kindergarten  classes  —  establish- 
ment and  maintenance."  Kindergartens  were  opened  in  1 897,  and 
a  Director  of  Kindergartens  was  appointed  to  supervise  the  work. 

A  feature  of  the  year  1892  was  the  participation  of  10,070 
boys  from  the  public  schools  in  the  Military  and  Civic  Parade 
which  took  place  on  October  2ist,  when  the  four-hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus  was  cele- 
brated. The  boys  were  organized  in  regiments  and  companies 


234  The  New  York  Public  School 

and  won  high  praise  for  their  excellent  behavior,  and,  in  the 
words  of  the  Grand  Marshal,  General  Isaac  S.  Catlin,  for  "  their 
picturesque  and  imposing  contribution  to  the  grand  parade 
column." 

Under  the  law  passed  in  1895  requiring  a  biennial  school 
census,  such  a  census  was  taken  in  November,  1895,  and 
another  in  1 897.  The  results,  in  brief,  were  as  follows  : 

SCHOOL  CENSUS  OF  1895 

Number  of  persons  between  4  and  21  years  of  age,  272,447 

Number  of  children  attending  public  schools,  117,581  ;  other  schools, 
38,454  ;  total,  156,035 

Number  of  children  between  8  and  16  employed,  17,370 

Number  of  children  not  attending  school —  from  4  to  8,  41,486  (estimated) 
from  16  to  21,  54,743 

SCHOOL  CENSUS  OF  1897 

Number  of  persons  between  4  and  18,  250,565 

Number  of  children  between  4  and  16,  234,938 

Number  of  children  between  5  and  16  attending  public  schools,  132,599 ; 
other  schools,  37,699;  total,  170,298 

Number  of  children  from  4  to  8  not  attending  school  (approximated), 
42,221  (including  31.665  between  4  and  5) 

Number  of  children  between  8  and  16  at  work,  20,839 

OFFICERS  OF  BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  — 1876  TO  1897 

President 

Ephraim  J.  Whitlock *        .         1876-1881  (to  June  3Oth) 
Daniel  Maujer1  .        .        .         1881  (from  July  I2th  to  December  3ist) 
Tunis  G.  Bergen         .         .         1882  (from  January  loth)  -1886  (to  July  6th) 
Robert  Payne     .         .         .         1886  (from  July  6th),  1887  (to  July  I2th) 
Joseph  C.  Hsndrix1   .         .         1887  (from  July  I2th)-i893  (to  March  8th) 
James  B.  Bouck          .         .         1893  (from  July  nth),  1894  (to  July  3d) 
J.  Edward  Swanstrom        .        1894  (from  July  3d)-i897 

Vice-President 

James  Murphy    .        .         .         1876-1880 
Daniel  Maujer !.        .        .         1880,1881 

1  Deceased. 


Brooklyn  Board  of  Education  — 1876  to  1897     235 

Charles  R.  Doane1      .         .         .  1882-1884 

Robert  Payne      ....  1884-1886 

John  C.  Kelley    ....  1886,  1887 

Erskine  H.  Dickey      .        .         .  1887,  1888 

John  Cottier        ....  1888-1891 

James  B.  Bouck          .         .         .  1891, 1892 

John  R.  Thompson     .         .         .  1892-1894 

Dr.  John  Harrigan      .        .         .  1894-1896 

George  H .  Fisher       .        .        .  1897 

Secretary 

George  A.  W.  Stuart .        .        .     1876-1881  (to  July  I2th) 

Daniel  W.  Tallmadge1       .         .     1881  (from  July  I2th)-i887  (to  July  I2th) 

George  G.  Brown       .         .        .1887  (from  July  I2th)-i897 

Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction 

Thomas  W.  Field !     .        .        .     1876-1881  (to  November  25th) 
Calvin  Patterson 1       .        .         .     1882  (from   February  7th)-i887  (to    Sep- 
tember 6th) 
William  H.  Maxwell  .        .        .1887  (from  September  6th)-i897 

Associate  Superintendents 

JohnW.  Bulkley1      .        .        .     1876-1885  (to  July  7th) 

William  H.  Maxwell  .  .  .1882  (from  October  3d)-i887  (to  Septem- 
ber 6th) 

Edward  G.  Ward  *      .         .         .     1885  (from  July  7th)-i  897 

Christopher  P.  Cunningham  *  .  1887  (from  September  6th),  1888  (to  De- 
cember 3  ist) 

John  H.  Walsh  .        .        .        .1889  (from  January  15^-1897 

Superintendent  of  Buildings 

Samuel  B.  Leonard x.         .         .     1876-1879 

James  W.  Naughton  *         .        .     1879  (from  December  2d)-i 897 

Superintendent  of  Heating  and  Ventilating 
W.F.Cunningham1.         .        .     1876-1897 

Superintendent  of  Attendance 
Joseph  B.  Jones,  M.D.        .        .     1876-1887 

1  Deceased. 


236  The  New  York  Public  School 

Director  of  Music 
Albert  S.  Caswell 1880  (from  March  25th)-i897 

Supervisor  of  Drawing 
Walter  S.  Goodnough         ....     1890  (from  December  2d)-i897 

Director  of  Physical  Culture 
Miss  Jessie  H.  Bancroft      ....     1893  (from  September  ist)-i897 

Director  of  Sewing 
Miss  Minnie  L.  Hutchinson        .        .        .     1896  (from  January  2d),  1897 

Director  of  Kindergartens 
Miss  Fanniebelle  Curtis      ....     1897  (from  September  1st) 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 
BROOKLYN  — HIGH   SCHOOLS   AND   TRAINING   SCHOOL 

\A  MOST  interesting  chapter  in  the  educational  development 
of  Brooklyn  is  that  relating  to  the  evolution  of  the  high  school, 
which  was  the  product  of  very  slow  growth.  Apparently  stimu- 
lated thereto  by  the  establishment  of  the  Free  Academy  in 
New  York,  which  was  opened  in  January,  1849,  tne  Brook- 
lyn Common  Council,  in  February  of  that  year,  passed  a  reso- 
lution in  reference  to  the  practicability  of  establishing  a  free 
academy  and  free  evening  schools  in  Brooklyn,  asking  the 
Board  of  Education  for  "  suggestions  and  plans."  This  resolu- 
tion was  laid  before  the  Board  at  its  meeting  on  February  isth 
and  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  three  members.  The 
committee  reported  promptly  in  favor  of  opening  two  evening 
schools,  but  held  over  the  other  subject  until  December  4th, 
when  resolutions  were  adopted  providing  for  a  Committee  on 
High  School  and  calling  upon  the  Common  Council  for  its  aid 
in  procuring  the  passage  of  a  law  to  raise  by  tax  the  sum  of 
$15,000  per  annum  for  two  consecutive  years  for  a  site  and 
building  for  such  a  school.  On  January  2d  following,  however, 
this  action  was  reconsidered,  and  on  the  1 5th  of  the  same  month 
the  resolutions  were  defeated  by  a  vote  of  8  to  21. 

The  matter  was  not  allowed  to  rest,  and  early  in  February 
the  City  Superintendent  was  directed  to  report  "  whether  any, 
and  if  so,  what  improvement  can  be  introduced  into  the  public 
schools  of  this  city,  by  which  instruction  in  the  higher  branches 
of  useful  knowledge  can  be  given  to  such  of  the  scholars  as 
may  desire  and  be  qualified  to  receive  it."  At  the  meeting  in 

237 


238  The  New  York  Public  School 

the  following  month  Superintendent  Holmes  presented  his 
report,  in  which  he  recommended  the  addition  of  a  "  scientific 
department,"  in  which  the  higher  branches  of  study  should  be 
pursued,  to  as  many  of  the  schools  as  might  be  selected.  In 
his  annual  report  for  1851  he  stated  that  two  hundred  pupils 
were  ready  to  enter  such  a  department.  In  this  connection  it 
may  be  observed  that  in  his  report  for  the  next  year  he  advised 
the  erection  near  the  City  Hall  of  a  large  building,  designed 
not  only  for  a  public  school,  but  also  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  Board,  its  committees,  its  officers,  the  depot,  the  monthly 
meetings  of  the  teachers,  and  a  "  scientific  department."  When 
the  building  in  Red  Hook  lane,  long  used  as  the  headquarters 
of  the  Board,  was  purchased,  in  1854,  it  was  the  intention 
to  establish  there  a  "central  public  school,"  in  which  should 
be  taught  geometry,  trigonometry,  natural  philosophy,  chemis- 
try, architecture  and  drawing,  geology,  etc.  Superintendent  Ran- 
dall, in  the  report  for  1853,  spoke  of  "the  ultimate  organization 
of  a  Central  High  School  or  Free  Academy  "  as  most  desirable. 
In  1855  Superintendent  Bulkley,  in  his  first  report,  urged  the 
establishment  of  a  "  Free  Academy  or  High  School,"  calling 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  question  of  organizing  such  an 
institution  had  been  agitated  in  Williamsburgh  before  the  con- 
solidation. He  added :  "  From  all  sections  of  the  cify  we  find 
the  friends  and  patrons  of  our  Public  Schools  calling  for  an 
institution  of  this  kind."  In  the  following  year  he  said:  "An 
institution  of  this  kind  is  indispensable  to  the  perfection  of  our 
system."  ^ 

As  stared  heretofore,  the  course  of  study  adopted  in  1866 
provided  for  a  supplementary  class,  in  addition  to  the  six  regular 
grades,  and  in  many  of  the  schools  supplementary  or  academic 
classes  were  organized  within  the  next  few  years.  It  was  not 
until  September,  1878,  that  the  Central  Grammar  School  was 
opened,  the  academic  classes  in  the  grammar  schools  being 
then  abolished.  The  Central  School  was  conducted  until  1886 
in  a  rented  building  at  Court  and  Livingston  streets,  which  has 


Brooklyn — High  Schools  and  Training  School    239 

been  leased  for  school  purposes  almost  continuously  since  the 
organization  of  that  school.  On  the  opening  day  over  six  hun- 
dred boys  and  girls  were  in  attendance,  in  the  care  of  a  princi- 
pal and  fourteen  instructors.  The  first  course  of  study  covered 
only  two  years.  In  1880  the  first  class,  of  over  one  hundred, 
was  graduated.  The  average  attendance  during  that  year 
was  528.  _~ 

The  first  mention  of  this  school  as  a  "  high  school "  appears 
in  the  Superintendent's  report  for  1884;  but  it  was  known  as 
the  Central  School  for  several  years  longer,  the  word  "  Gram- 
mar "  being  dropped.  About  this  time  it  was  decided  to  erect 
a  building  for  the  Central  School,  and  a  site  was  selected  at 
Nostrand  avenue,  Macon  and  Halsey  streets.  The  new  build- 
ing was  completed  by  November,  1886,  having  a  seating  capac- 
ity of  about  1200.  Before  it  was  occupied  it  became  apparent 
that  the  building  would  not  be  large  enough  to  accommodate  all 
the  pupils,  and  the  Board  decided  to  transfer  only  the  girls  to 
Nostrand  avenue,  leaving  the  boys  in  the  Court  street  building. 
In  the  following  year  the  course  of  study  was  revised  so  as  to 
include  really  three  courses  —  an  English  course  of  two  years, 
a  language  course  of  three  years,  and  a  commercial  course  of 
two  years. 

Although  referred  to  in  the  Superintendent's  report  for  1887 
as  "  the  Central  School,  or  High  School,  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,"  the  institution  continued  to  be  designated  by  the  former 
name  until  1891,  when  one  division  was  termed  the  Girls'  High 
School  and  the  other  became  the  Boys'  High  School.1  In  the 
mean  time  a  site  had  been  selected  for  the  Boys'  High  School, 
at  Marcy  and  Putnam  avenues  and  Madison  street.  As  early 
as  1890  the  Board  resolved  upon  the  establishment  of  a  Manual 
Training  High  School,  but  the  requisite  funds  were  not  supplied 
until  several  years  later. 

By  this  time  there  had  been  provided  for  the  Boys'  High 

1  The  name  "  Central  Grammar  School "  still  remains  over  the  main  entrance  of 
the  Nostrand  avenue  building. 


240  The  New  York  Public  School 

School  a  commercial  course  of  two  years,  a  scientific  course  of 
three  years,  and  a  language  course  of  four  years,  while  in  the 
corresponding  school  for  girls  there  were  a  commercial  course 
of  two  years,  an  English  course  of  three  years,  and  a  language 
course  of  four  years,  f  "  For  the  first  time  in  its  history,"  said  the 
Superintendent  in  his  report  for  1890,  "it  may  be  truly  said  that 
Brooklyn  has  a  High  School ;  that  is,  a  school  which  will  prepare 
its  pupils  for  any  university  in  the  country,  as  well  as  give  a 
good  working  education  to  those  who  do  not  desire  a  university 
course"  (p.  70). 

In  1891  the  erection  of  the  new  Boys'  High  School  was 
begun,  and  so  rapid  had  been  the  growth  of  the  Girls'  High 
School  that  in  the  same  year  a  contract  was  entered  into  for  a 
spacious  addition  to  the  building  of  the  latter,  which  thus  became 
the  largest  high  school  building  in  the  country.  The  average 
attendance  in  1892  was  1284;  in  1893,  1396;  in  1894,  1633. 
The  addition,  containing  twenty-four  class-rooms  and  a  hand- 
some assembly  room,  and  the  new  building  for  the  Boys'  High 
School,  were  both  completed  in  1892. 

The  Manual  Training  High  School  was  finally  organized  in 
1894  in  the  Court  street  building,  starting  with  about  150 
students.  Only  boys  were  admitted  at  first,  but  in  the  next  year 
it  was  decided  to  admit  both  sexes.  This  relieved  somewhat  the 
growing  pressure  on  the  Girls'  High  School ;  nevertheless  it 
became  necessary,  in  1895,  to  use  the  old  building  of  School 
No.  3  as  an  annex,  and  three  classes  of  girls  were  organized 
there.  In  the  Manual  Training  School  a  three  years'  course 
was  provided,  including,  in  addition  to  the  regular  high  school 
studies,  mechanical  and  architectural  drawing  and  manual  work, 
the  latter  consisting  of  joining,  turning,  forging,  pattern-making, 
sewing,  knife- work,  Venetian  iron-work,  etc.  About  1896  it 
was  decided  to  purchase  the  old  Thirteenth  Regiment  Armory, 
in  Hanson  place,  as  a  site  for  the  Manual  Training  High  School, 
but  the  plan  of  erecting  a  building  there  was  abandoned,  and  a 
site  at  Seventh  avenue,  Fourth  and  Fifth  streets,  was  selected. 


Brooklyn  —  High  Schools  and  Training  School    241 

The  new  building  constructed  on  this  site  was  completed  in 
December,  1904. 

The  next  step  in  the  development  of  the  high  school  idea  in 
Brooklyn  is  of  special  interest.  So  rapid  had  been  the  growth 
of  public  sentiment  in  favor  of  secondary  education  that  by  1895 
there  was  an  emphatic  demand  for  another  high  school ;  and  in 
July  of  that  year  the  way  was  opened  for  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion to  meet  the  demand,  through  the  offer  of  the  trustees  of 
Erasmus  Hall  Academy,  in  the  former  town  of  Flatbush,  to 
convey  their  property  to  the  Board  of  Education  on  the  con- 
dition that  a  high  school  equal  in  grade  and  equipment  to  the 
other  high  schools  of  Brooklyn  should  be  maintained  thereon. 
The  Academy  was  one  of  the  oldest  in  the  State,  having  been 
founded  in  1787  and  having  had  a  notable  career.  The  gift 
was  gladly  accepted,  and  Erasmus  Hall  High  School  was 
opened  in  September,  1896.  The  school  has  grown  steadily; 
additional  buildings  of  a  temjJoTary  character  have  been  put  up 
to  accommodate  the  large  number  of  students,  and  in  August, 
1904,  a  contract  was  awarded  for  a  large  and  handsome  per- 
manent building. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  Saturday  Normal 
Schools  established  in  1843  and  1856  for  the  benefit  of  inex- 
perienced teachers,  and  of  the  attempt  made  in  1866-1867  to 
instruct  primary  teachers  in  the  principles  of  pedagogy.  The 
importance  of  having  properly  trained  teachers  was  insisted 
upon  many  times  in  the  reports  of  the  Superintendents.  A 
definite  -proposition  was  brought  forward  in  1873  for  the 
establishment  of  a  normal  school  in  a  building  owned  by  the 
Board  in  Prospect  street;  and  in  1879  the  re-establishment  of 
the  Saturday  Normal  School  was  urged,  with  the  suggestion 
that  it  be  held  on  alternate  Saturdays  in  the  Central  Grammar 
School  and  the  Eastern  District  Library  building.  It  was  also 
recommended  that  all  inexperienced  teachers  be  required  to 
attend  at  least  two  sessions  each  month. 

The  first  mention  of  training  schools  appears  in  the  report 


242  The  New  York  Public  School 

for  1 88 1,1  when  two  professional  schools,  one  for  the  Western 
District  and  one  for  the  Eastern  District,  were  proposed.  This 
recommendation  was  repeated  in  the  following  year,  and  led  to 
action  by  the  Board  of  Education  in  1884,  when  it  was  decided 
that  the  new  school  building  about  to  be  built  in  Berkeley  place 
should  be  used  as  a  model  primary  school  in  connection  with  a 
training  school  for  teachers.  The  Training  School  was  opened 
in  May,  1885,  with  a  department  of  theory  and  a  department  of 
practice.  The  course  of  study  was  one  year.  Brooklyn  thus 
anticipated  by  ten  years  the  enactment  of  the  State  law  (Chapter 
1031,  laws  of  1895)  "to  encourage  and  promote  the  professional 
training  of  teachers."  The  attendance  at  the  school  for  the 
first  year  was  123,  and  there  were  forty -eight  graduates  in  1886. 
For  some  years  the  idea  was  entertained  of  organizing  a 
second  training  school  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  city ;  but  in 
1892  the  school  was  removed  to  the  building  of  Public  School  4, 
in  Ryerson  street,  near  Myrtle  avenue,  and  No.  4  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  building  in  Berkeley  place.  The  new  location  of 
the  Training  School  was  more  central  for  the  city  as  a  whole, 
and  the  building  was  more  commodious.  The  Ryerson  street 
building  was  occupied  until  1903,  when  the  Training  School 
took  possession  of  new  public  school  building  No.  138,  in 
Prospect  place,  between  Bedford  and  Nostrand  avenues. 

1  There  was  a  chapter  on  "  Training  School  "  in  Superintendent  Bulkley's  report 
for  1864.  The  report  for  1881  was  prepared  by  Calvin  Patterson,  who  was  elected 
Superintendent  February  7,  1882,  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Field, 


CHAPTER   XXIX 
FEATURES   OF   THE   BROOKLYN   SYSTEM 

ONE  of  the  characteristic  features  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of 
Education,  almost  from  the  beginning,  was  that  which  has  been 
already  mentioned  under  the  name  of  the  "  local  committee 
system  "  (see  Chapter  XXV).  The  original  plan  of  a  district 
committee  to  have  special  oversight  of  the  schools  in  each  dis- 
trict was  continued  only  a  few  years.  Very  shortly  after  the 
reorganization  resulting  from  the  change  made  in  the  law  in 
1850,  the  by-laws  were  amended  so  as  to  provide  for  a  school 
committee  of  three  members  for  each  of  the  schools.1  This  was 
the  beginning  of  the  local  committee  system,  although  the 
name  "local  committee"  was  not  used  officially  until  about 
1875.  These  committees  in  the  course  of  time  acquired  large 
powers  in  the  appointment  and  promotion  of  teachers,2  the 
making  of  repairs,  etc.  ;  in  fact,  regarding  any  particular 
school  the  local  committee  was  practically  supreme.  When 
the  Training  School  and  the  high  schools  were  established  a 
local  committee  was  appointed  for  each.  J 

This  peculiar  feature  of  the  Brooklyn  public  school  system 
was  continued  until  the  abolition  of  the  Brooklyn  School 
Board,  in  1902,  being  retained  in  the  first  Greater  New  York 
Charter  by  a  special  provision  in  its  favor  (Section  1103).  It 
was  often  the  subject  of  severe  criticism  by  many  persons, 
including  some  members  of  the  Board  of  Education.  The 
friends  of  the  system  claimed  that  it  had  much  merit  in  keeping 
the  schools  "  close  to  the  people,"  and  as  each  member  of  the 

1  Thirteen  school  committees  were  appointed  on  March  12,  1851. 

2  Except  teachers  of  music,  drawing,  etc. 

243 


244  The  New  York  Public  School 

Board  was  the  chairman  of  one  or  more  local  committees  it  was 
possible  to  bring  the  welfare  of  any  school  directly  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Board. 

As  a  sample  of  criticism  of  the  local  committee  system 
from  within,  an  extract  may  be  made  from  the  annual  report 
of  the  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  (Mr.  J.  Edward 
Swanstrom)  for  1896.  Referring  to  the  preparation  of  the 
Charter  for  Greater  New  York,  then  under  way,  he  said  :  "  It  is 
to  be  hoped,  however,  that  this  opportunity  will  be  taken  to 
secure  the  enactment  of  some  much-needed  reforms  which  have 
long  been  sought  by  the  best  friends  of  public  education  in  this 
city.  Chief  among  these  is  the  abolition  of  the  appointing 
power  now  vested  in  the  local  committees.  Almost  all  the 
abuses  that  have  crept  into  our  system  are  attributable  to  this 
wrong  method  of  making  appointments  and  promotions  among 
teachers.  Appointments  should  be  made  from  an  eligible  list, 
and  promotions  should  be  determined  solely  by  merit"  (p.  37). 
But  not  until  four  years  after  Brooklyn  ceased  to  be  a  city  was 
the  merit  system  introduced  into  its  public  schools. 

In  connection  with  the  appointment  of  teachers  by  local 
committees,  a  fact  sometimes  lost  sight  of  is  that  no  person 
could  be  appointed  to  teach  who  had  not  been  regularly  licensed 
by  the  City  Superintendent  or  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction.  The  duty  of  examining  candidates  for  teacher- 
ships  and  certifying  to  their  qualifications  was  one  of  the 
duties  of  that  official  from  the  time  the  office  was  created. 

In  his  first  annual  report  after  consolidation  (for  the  school 
year  1898-1899)  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  indulged  in 
a  number  of  strictures  on  the  local  committee  system,  alleging 
that  it  had  "retarded  progress  ever  since  the  Brooklyn  city 
school  system  was  established,"  that  "  unseemly  and  unprofes- 
sional devices  "  were  employed  by  teachers  to  secure  appoint- 
ment and  promotion,  that  the  system  had  "  driven  many  of  the 
best  men  that  ever  sat  in  the  Brooklyn  Board  to  resign  or 
refuse  reappointment,"  and  that  under  this  system  "  it  is  almost 


TWO   TYPES   OF   BROOKLYN   SCHOOL   BUILDINGS 
1.    Public  School   146.      2.    Public  School   127 


Features  of  the  Brooklyn  System  245 

impossible  to  bring  about  the  transfer  of  principals  and 
teachers  from  school  to  school  when  such  transfer  is  nec- 
essary for  the  good  of  the  system,  because  each  local  committee 
has  supreme  control  of  its  own  school  and  there  is  no  central 
power  clothed  with  authority  to  transfer  a  teacher  from  one 
school  to  another"  (pp.  86-88).  On  the  presentation  of  this 
report,  the  Board  of  Education  (then  commonly  called  the  Cen- 
tral Board),  before  ordering  it  printed,  referred  it  to  a  committee, 
which  reported  in  favor  of  placing  it  "  on  file."  Afterward  a 
resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Board  approving  of  the  printing 
of  one  thousand  copies,  provided  there  was  prefixed  the  report 
of  the  committee  above  mentioned,  which  stated  that  the  City 
Superintendent  had  been  called  on  to  substantiate  his  statements, 
and  had  evaded  the  issue.1 

From  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  Brooklyn's  public 
schools  there  was  difficulty  in  supplying  sufficient  accommoda- 
tions to  meet  the  demand.  The  growth  of  the  city  was  very 
rapid,  especially  at  certain  periods,  as,  for  instance,  after  the 
opening  of  the  New  York  and  Brooklyn  Bridge,  in  1883,  and  the 
building  of  elevated  railroads  two  or  three  years  later.  Funds 
for  building  schoolhouses  were  raised  by  taxation  for  many 
years,  and,  owing  to  the  pressure  for  economy  in  the  city's 
finances,  the  Board  of  Estimate  granted  appropriations  on  a 
scale  not  liberal.  In  some  years  no  money  was  allowed  for 
school  sites  and  buildings.  It  was  not  until  1888  that  the  first 
law  was  enacted  providing  for  the  issue  of  bonds  for  this  pur- 
pose. The  first  bond  issue  was  $400,000;  in  the  two  years 
following  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $1,200,000  were  authorized. 
From  the  President's  report  for  1889  we  learn  that  "The  Board 
of  Education  finds  itself  now  for  the  first  time  in  ample  funds  to 
cope  with  the  problem  of  school  accommodation.  It  desires  to 

1  It  should  be  added  that  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  (William  H.  Max- 
well) was  connected  with  the  Brooklyn  city  school  system  during  the  last  fifteen  years 
of  its  existence,  for  ten  years  as  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  and  for  five 
years  previously  as  Associate  Superintendent. 


246  The  New  York  Public  School 

return  thanks  for  the  liberal  spirit  in  which  its  demands  for  more 
money  for  school  buildings  have  been  met,  and  to  express  its  grati- 
tude for  its  ability  now  to  confront  the  question  with  a  confidence 
it  has  never  before  possessed  "  (p.  7).  The  Board  did  not  "  find 
it  necessary,"  says  the  similar  report  for  1890,  "  to  ask  for  any 
further  funds  for  1891  "  (p.  7).  For  1892  an  appropriation  of 
$100,000  for  sites  was  included  in  the  tax  budget,  and  for  the 
following  year  one  of  $50,000;  in  those  years  bonds  to  the 
amount  of  $500,000  were  available  for  building  purposes. 

Nevertheless,  the  Board,  while  doing  the  best  it  could  with 
the  resources  at  its  command,  was  never  able  to  furnish 
enough  school  room  for  all  the  children  wishing  to  attend. 
Even  in  September  and  October,  1889,  there  were  1039  pupils 
excluded  for  lack  of  room  ;  in  the  corresponding  months  of  the 
following  year,  3168,  and  in  the  same  months  in  1891,  2715. 
From  that  time  the  situation  steadily  grew  worse.  Large  build- 
ings were  erected,  and  there  were  never  any  charges  of  extrava- 
gance ;  the  buildings  were  plain  and  simple,  mostly  of  red  brick, 
without  claims  to  architectural  beauty.  Buildings  unfit  for  use 
were  retained  for  years  in  not  a  few  cases  when  they  should 
have  been  abandoned,  and  rooms  not  intended  for  classrooms, 
in  basements,  sometimes  even  in  cellars,  were  used  for  school 
purposes.  "Year  after  year,"  said  the  President  in  his  annual 
report  for  1885,  "the  same  story  is  told.  The  same  unpleasant 
spectacle  of  shameful  overcrowding  in  many  class  rooms  is 
presented.  The  same  disregard  of  health  and  of  proper  facilities 
for  imparting  instruction  appears,  and  no  adequate  means  for 
relief  is  afforded.  The  only  refuge  the  Board  has  is  in  direct- 
ing that  many  of  the  classes  shall  hold  their  pupils  only  half  a 
day  "(p.  11). 

A  dozen  years  earlier  the  Superintendent  had  called  atten- 
tion to  a  condition  of  overcrowding  in  many  classrooms  that 
was  little  short  of  scandalous.  "  More  than  thirty  young  girls," 
he  said  in  his  annual  report  for  1873,  "have  one  hundred  and 
twenty  to  one  hundred  and  eighty  pupils  committed  solely  to 


Features  of  the  Brooklyn  System  247 

their  inexperience  for  tuition.  Ninety  teachers  have  eighty  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  scholars  each,  and  forty-one  classes  are 
crowded  into  dark  and,  in  some  instances,  damp  basements  " 
(p.  39).  The  report  of  the  President  for  1885,  mentioned  above, 
stated  that  there  were  then  three  classes  exceeding  180  pupils 
each,  eleven  classes  with  more  than  150  pupils  each,  seventy- 
three  classes  having  upwards  of  100  pupils  each,  and  two  hun- 
dred classes  containing  more  than  70  pupils  each.  This  report 
further  stated  that  "  In  at  least  eleven  of  our  schools  we  have 
rooms  unfit  to  be  used,  and  never  intended  for  class  rooms, 
which  are  crowded  with  children  at  the  present  time,  and  at 
least  two  of  our  school  buildings  should  be  condemned  and 
sold"  (p.  15). 

At  that  time  the  Board  had  adopted  this  rule : 

"  The  maximum  number  of  sittings  to  be  placed  in  a  primary  class  room 
in  any  school  building  to  be  erected,  shall  be  fifty-six,  in  grammar  class  rooms 
below  the  third  grade,  forty-eight,  and  in  grammar  class  rooms  above  the 
fourth  grade,  forty." 

/  ^n  1889  the  Board  passed  a  resolution  providing  that  after 
February  i,  1890,  no  principal  should  place  on  register  more 
than  seventy  pupils  in  any  class.  This  was  pronounced  by  the 
Superintendent,  in  his  report  for  1889  (p.  58),  "a  long  step 
toward  remedying  "  the  evils  of  overcrowding ;  but  it  may  be 
noted  that  in  the  very  same  paragraph  he  recommended  that 
the  maximum  should  be  reduced  to  sixty.  Notwithstanding  this 
rule,  nearly  four  years  later,  in  October,  1893,  there  were  146 
classes  with  more  than  seventy  pupils  on  register ;  forty  teachers 
had  registered  between  100  and  150  pupils  each,  and  one  class 
had  a  registry  of  no  less  than  158  !  A  state  of  things  almost  as 
bad  existed  in  the  following  year,  and  was  properly  characterized 
by  the  Superintendent  as  "a  disgrace  to  Brooklyn." 

The  only  remedy  applied,  as  stated  in  a  citation  already 
given  from  the  President's  report  for  1885,  was  the  "  half  -day 
class  "  in  the  lower  primary  grades,  to  which  numerous  refer- 
ences are  found  in  the  reports  and  minutes.  By  this  plan  a  big 


248 


The  New  York  Public  School 


class  was  divided  into  two  sections,  one  attending  school  in  the 
forenoon  and  the  other  in  the  afternoon,  one  teacher  caring  for 
both.  In  1887  there  were  seventy-five  half-day  classes,  con- 
taining 7969  pupils ;  in  his  report  for  that  year  the  Superin- 
tendent recommended  the  exclusion  from  school  of  children 
under  six  years,  and  said  that  if  this  were  done  there  "  need 
be  no  difficulty  in  doing  away,  after  a  reasonable  time,  with  the 
half-day  classes  and  reducing  the  classes  in  the  lower  Primary 
grades  to  working  dimensions." 

The  following  table,  taken  from  the  President's  report  for 
1896  (p.  n),  shows  the  number  of  children  refused  admission 
and  the  number  on  half-time,  and  also  indicates  what  the  Board 
was  doing  in  the  way  of  furnishing  accommodations,  for  a  series 
of  years : 


YEAR 

REFUSED  ADMISSION 
DURING  SEPT.  AND 
OCT. 

ON  HALF-TIME 
OCT.  31 

TOTAL 

SITTINGS  IN  NEW 
BUILDINGS 

1887 

1354 

8069 

9423 

5008 

1888 

1201 

9024 

10225 

4922 

1889 

I039 

7545 

8584 

7753 

1890 

3168 

5618 

9786 

4142 

1891 

2715 

8589 

II30I 

5021 

1892 

3481 

6868 

10349 

7255 

1893 

4635 

8305 

12940 

6048 

1894 

5826 

9412 

15238 

1938 

1895 

4977 

9500 

14477 

10484 

1896 

5305 

12044 

17349 

7556 

In  1897  the  plan  was  adopted  of  extending  the  school  day 
to  5  o'clock  and  allowing  two  classes  to  occupy  the  same  room, 
one  class  from  9  to  I  o'clock,  the  other  from  I  to  5,  under  the 
care  of  two  teachers;  and  119  such  classes  were  organized,  with 
6197  pupils.1 


1  This  was  the  introduction  of  the  part-time  plan,  which  was  extensively  used 
after  consolidation  in  both  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn. 


Features  of  the  Brooklyn  System  249 

The  rules  adopted  by  the  Board  in  1843  provided  that  "The 
discipline  to  be  maintained  in  the  schools  shall  be  of  a  mild  and 
parental  character,  and  corporal  punishment  is  to  be  avoided 
except  when  absolutely  necessary."  After  a  few  years  the  rule 
was  amended  by  the  addition  of  the  following  words  :  "  of 
which  necessity  the  Principal  must  be  the  judge  —  but,  children 
or  parents  may  complain  to  the  Trustees  of  unnecessary  severity, 
and  the  complaint  shall  be  heard  and  adjudged  by  them."  Still 
later  the  rule  took  this  form  : 

"  The  discipline  to  be  maintained  in  the  schools  shall  be  of  a  mild  and 
parental  character,  and  corporal  punishment  shall  be  resorted  to  only  in  cases 
of  persistent  misconduct,  and  after  the  failure  of  all  other  reasonable  efforts  at 
reformation.  The  Principal  alone  shall  be  authorized  to  inflict  corporal  pun- 
ishment ;  of  the  necessity  of  which  he  shall  in  every  case  be  the  judge.  He 
shall  keep  a  record  of  such  punishments,  stating  the  nature  of  each  offence 
and  the  name  of  the  teacher  complainant.  Children  or  parents  may  complain 
to  the  School  Committee  of  unnecessary  severity,  and  the  complaint  shall  be 
heard  and  adjudged  by  them." 

In  substantially  these  words  it  remained  in  force  for  more 
than  thirty  years,  and  until  the  dissolution  of  the  Brooklyn 
School  Board. 

It  would  be  a  tedious  and  useless  task  to  attempt  to  outline 
the  numerous  changes  in  the  salary  system  in  the  Brooklyn 
schools,  if,  indeed,  there  was  for  many  years  any  system  worthy 
of  the  name.  The  records  for  nearly  forty  years  will  be  searched 
in  vain  to  ascertain  what  system  was  employed.  The  by-laws 
of  the  Board  were  silent  on  the  subject  until  1882,  there  being 
no  mention  even  of  any  power  to  fix  salaries.  At  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Board  the  schools  in  the  several  districts  were  found 
supplied  with  teachers,  who  were  serving  under  contracts  previ- 
ously made.  The  number  of  teachers  in  the  city  in  1843  was 
twenty-nine,  and  their  salaries  ranged  from  $75  to  $800,  the  pay- 
roll for  the  year  amounting  to  $95 IO.1  In  1851  the  highest 

1  There  was  one  teacher  at  $800,  two  at  $700,  one  at  $600,  two  at  $500,  one  at 
$460,  one  at  $450,  one  at  $400,  three  at  $350,  one  at  $300,  one  at  $275,  three  at  £250, 


250  The  New  York  Public  School 

salary  paid  was  still  $800,  and  the  lowest  $100.  For  years 
when  appointments  were  reported  by  the  Committee  on  Teach- 
ers the  salary  was  specified  in  each  instance,  but  the  basis  on 
which  it  was  fixed  is  not  shown. 

In  1876  principals  of  grammar  schools  received  $3000  per 
annum ;  in  the  primary  grades  the  minimum  salary  was  $400 
and  the  maximum  $475  ;  in  the  grammar  grades  the  minimum 
was  $500  and  the  maximum  $800.  Owing  to  the  depression  in 
business  and  the  resulting  hard  times,  a  general  reduction  in 
salaries  was  made  in  1877.  Principals  were  put  back  to  $2700, 
and  there  was  a  cut  varying  from  three  to  ten  per  cent,  in  the 
pay  of  other  teachers.  In  1879,  f°r  a  similar  reason,  there  was 
a  further  reduction  ;  the  salary  of  a  principal  was  placed  at 
$2400,  and  the  compensation  of  the  other  members  of  the  teach- 
ing staff  likewise  diminished.  Two  years  later  the  salaries  of 
all  the  teachers,  except  principals,  were  restored ;  but  the  prin- 
cipals were  continued  at  the  reduced  rate  until  1886,  when  they 
were  again  raised  to  the  rate  prevailing  before  1878. 

A  special  committee  was  appointed  by  the  Board  in  1882  to 
"consider  and  devise  an  equitable  basis  for  the  fixing  of  the 
salaries  of  teachers,"  and  in  the  ensuing  year  a  regular  salary 
schedule  was  adopted  and  made  a  part  of  the  by-laws.  This 
schedule  provided  for  salaries  in  the  primary  grades  from  $300 
to  $490,  with  an  annual  increment  of  $50  up  to  the  fourth  year ; 
in  the  grammar  grades  the  range  was  from  $450  to  $900,  with  a 
small  increment  for  two  or  three  years.  A  "  bonus  "  was  pro- 
vided for  teachers  of  boys'  classes,  being  $15  per  annum  in  the 
primary  and  $25  in  the  grammar  grades.  An  increase  in  salaries 
of  about  twelve  per  cent,  on  the  average  was  made  in  1886,  to 
take  effect  at  the  beginning  of  the  following  year;  the  bonus  for 
teaching  boys  was  increased  to  $25  for  primary  teachers  and  to 
$50  for  grammar  teachers ;  and  the  period  of  the  annual  incre- 

six  at  $200,  two  at  $175,  two  at  $150,  one  at  $100,  and  one  at  $75.  The  first  salary 
increase  recorded  was  made  on  November  14,  1843,  when  a  teacher  was  advanced 
from  $350  to  $400. 


Features  of  the  Brooklyn  System 


251 


ments  was  lengthened.  The  initial  salary  of  a  beginner  with- 
out experience  was  continued  at  $300  ($325  for  boys),  but  those 
who  had  pursued  the  Training  School  course  were  started  at 
$400  ($425  for  boys).  With  the  beginning  of  1892  there  was 
a  further  increase,  amounting  to  about  fifteen  per  cent,  in  the 
salaries  of  all  teachers  below  the  third  grammar  grade.  The 
initial  salary  was  raised  to  $350,  and  the  maximum  in  the  pri- 
mary grades  was  fixed  at  $700;  in  the  grammar  grades  the 
salaries  ranged  from  $550  to  $1200.  The  bonus  for  teaching 
boys'  classes  was  now  made  $50  in  all  grades. 

The  following  tabular  statement  will  show  the  changes  in 
salaries  of  the  teaching  staff  from  1876  to  1892: 


PRIMARY  GRADES 

GRAMMAR  GRADES 

YEAR 

Minimum 

Maximum 

Minimum 

Maximum 

1876 

$400 

$475 

$500 

$    800 

1882 

300 

515 

450 

900 

1887 

300 

600 

500 

1200 

I892 

350 

700 

550 

1200 

In  1892  the  salaries  of  principals  of  grammar  schools  ranged 
from  $2500  to  $3000,  of  principals  of  intermediate  schools  from 
$1500  to  $2200,  of  principals  of  primary  schools  from  $1500  to 
$240x3,  of  heads  of  departments  from  $930  to  $1250.  In  high 
schools  principals  received  $5000  and  teachers  from  $1000  to 
$3000;  in  the  Training  School  the  principal  received  $4000  and 
teachers  $1750. 

Before  1857,  as  already  noted,  the  duties  of  Secretary  were 
performed  by  the  City  Superintendent ;  in  the  year  named  the 
first  Secretary,  George  A.  W.  Stuart,  was  elected.  He  held  the 
office  until  1881.  In  that  year  it  was  discovered  that  a  number 
of  valuable  books  and  records  of  the  Board  had  been  lost,  and 
shortly  afterward  Stuart  disappeared.  To  the  intense  surprise 
of  the  members,  it  was  found,  after  a  careful  examination,  that 


252 


Tke  New  York  Public  School 


he  had  been  systematically  robbing  the  Board  for  a  dozen  years, 
his  total  stealings  amounting  to  $250,508.55.  The  method 
used  by  him  was  that  of  putting  in  false  bills  and  of  "raising  " 
checks,  and  as  the  Board  handled  its  own  funds,  the  City 
Treasurer  acting  as  Treasurer  of  the  Board,  the  opportunity  to 
be  dishonest  had  been  open  to  him.  The  moneys  stolen  were 
largely  those  received  in  payment  for  text-books.  Stuart  was 
indicted,  but  he  covered  his  movements  so  effectually  that  he 
was  never  traced.  No  member  of  the  Board  was  ever  under 
suspicion  of  being  implicated  with  him.  The  defalcation  caused 
the  adoption  of  more  businesslike  methods  in  the  office  of  the 
Board,  with  systematic  examination  of  the  accounts,  and  was, 
no  doubt,  one  of  the  reasons  which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the 
free  book  system  in  1884.  Previous  to  that  time  teachers  and 
others  received  their  salaries  in  cash  at  the  office  of  the  Secre- 
tary. After  January  i,  1884,  all  salaries  were  paid  by  check 
drawn  to  the  order  of  each  teacher  or  other  employe". 

COMPARISON 


1855 

1865 

1875 

1885 

1895 

Number  of  schools 

30 

38 

48 

61 

109 

Number  of  teachers 

312 

554 

1077 

HS2 

2479 

Average  register 



31,160 

48,115 

70,273 

113,810 

Average  attendance 

13,380 

22,610 

43,292 

62,835 

103.858 

Teachers'  salaries 

593.330-5S 

#270,091.30 

$659,461.62 

#871,470.61 

#2,101,959.71 

Total  expenditures 

150,895.02 

414,666.12 

1,147,647.41 

1,607,886.09 

3,489,768.19 

Value  of  School  Property 


1889 
1896 


$5,831,198 
10,281,138 


CHAPTER  XXX 
THE   BOROUGH   OF   QUEENS 

THE  Borough  of  Queens  comprises  the  former  towns  of 
Newtown  (out  of  which  Long  Island  City  was  formed),  Flush- 
ing, and  Jamaica,  and  a  part  of  the  town  of  Hempstead,  all  of 
which  were  in  the  County  of  Queens.1  The  earliest  settlement 
recorded  in  this  territory  was  made  in  Newtown,  the  original 
name  of  which  was  Middleburgh,  in  the  year  1638.  The  first 
mention  of  a  schoolmaster  occurs  in  1661  (the  same  year  in 
which  the  first  schoolmaster  was  appointed  in  Brooklyn),  when 
the  so-called  town-house  was  placed  at  his  disposal.  This  town- 
house  had  previously  been  occupied  by  the  minister  of  the  town, 
the  Rev.  John  Moore,  and  in  1657  ti^6  to  the  house,  which  had 
been  built  by  the  little  settlement,  was  given  to  Mr.  Moore,  under 
the  hands  of  the  clerk  and  one  of  the  magistrates,  against  the 
protest  of  some  members  of  the  community.  Moore  died  shortly 
afterward ;  his  widow  continued  to  occupy  the  house  for  several 
years,  and  while  living  there  became  the  wife  of  the  Rev.  Francis 
Doughty.  A  protest  against  the  surrender  of  the  town-house 
was  filed  by  the  opposition  with  Director-General  Stuyvesant, 
in  1 66 1,  on  behalf  of  Richard  Mills,  schoolmaster,  who  was 
spoken  of  as  "  a  help  meet  for  the  discipline  and  education  of 
our  children."  Stuyvesant  on  February  i8th  decided  in  favor 
of  the  remonstrants,  and  ordered  Mr.  Doughty  to  give  Mills 
possession. 

1  Queens  County  is  now  coterminous  with  the  Borough  of  that  name ;  the  portion 
of  the  former  county  not  consolidated  with  New  York  City  was  set  off  and  erected 
into  Nassau  County  in  1898,  when  the  boundary  line  of  the  city  was  slightly  altered. 

253 


254  The  New  York  Public  School 

The  first  schoolmaster  of  Middleburgh  did  not  long  pursue 
his  vocation  there.  Soon  there  was  another  change  in  the 
occupant  of  the  town-house.  In  September,  1662,  the  building 
was  ordered  to  be  put  in  repair,  in  view  of  the  prospective  settle- 
ment of  a  new  minister.  Mills  is  next  heard  of  in  Westchester, 
where  he  is  recorded  as  a  leading  resident  and  magistrate,  and 
where  he  took  an  active  part  in  a  revolt  against  Governor  Stuy- 
vesant.  By  the  orders  of  the  latter  he  was  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned for  more  than  a  month,  and  shortly  afterward  left  the 
country. 

For  some  time  after  English  supremacy  in  the  colony  no 
mention  is  found  of  any  person  as  carrying  on  a  school ;  and  the 
legal  code  introduced,  as  summarized  by  Riker,1  contains  no 
reference  to  a  schoolmaster.  In  the  military  system  adopted, 
however,  "  All  male  persons  above  the  age  of  sixteen,  except 
certain  judicial  and  professional  characters,  including  the  minis- 
ter, constable,  and  schoolmaster,  were  required  to  do  military 
duty."2 

The  next  schoolmaster  recorded  after  Richard  Mills  appears 
in  1695,  in  the  person  of  Ezekiel  Lewis,  a  graduate  of  Harvard, 
who  afterward  rose  to  prominence  as  a  lawyer  in  Boston.  For 
his  accommodation  the  town-house  (which  had  reverted  to  Mrs. 
Doughty  in  1665,  when  there  was  no  further  fear  of  interference 
by  Stuyvesant)  was  ordered  to  be  put  in  good  condition.  Lewis's 
stay,  like  that  of  Mills,  was  short ;  he  kept  the  school  for  only  a 
year. 

In  1720  the  school  was  in  charge  of  George  Reynolds,  and 
the  town-house  again  becomes  a  feature  of  the  narrative,  as  in 
that  year  it  was  voted  to  rent  the  premises  to  him.  "  The  sub- 
ject of  education  was  also  exciting  more  attention  [about  1720], 
but  by  education  must  be  understood  those  few  and  simple 
attainments  which  the  mass  of  the  people  were  wont  to  regard  as 
a  competency  ;  in  most  instances  not  extending  beyond  the  ability 
to  read,  write  and  cast  plain  accounts,  and,  in  the  case  of  girls,  no 

1  Annals  of  Newtown,  pp.  68-70.  2  Ibid.,  p.  77. 


The  Borough  of  Queens  255 

further  than  '  to  read  English  in  the  Bible.'  .  .  .  The  village  had 
occasionally  enjoyed  the  services  of  a  schoolmaster."  l 

About  this  period  the  residents  of  Dutch  Kills,  Hallett's 
Cove,  and  other  settlements  within  the  later  limits  of  Long 
Island  City  found  the  school  at  Newtown  too  remote  for  their 
children  to  attend  comfortably,  and  a  second  school  was  estab- 
lished nearer  their  homes.  A  plot  of  ground,  "thirty  foot 
long  and  twenty  foot  broad,"  was  given  by  Joseph  Hallett  "  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  a  school  house,  now  erected  and  standing 
thereon  by  the  roadside  from  Hallett's  Cove  to  Newtown."  On 
May  20,  1721,  Hallett  executed  a  deed,  admitting  five  others  "as 
joint  owners  with  himself  of  the  said  premises,"  "to  be  equally 
enjoyed  by  them  and  their  heirs  severally,  and  by  me  and  my 
heirs,  for  ever,  having,  all  and  every  of  us,  our  heirs,  and  every 
of  them,  the  same  equal  share,  right  and  title  to  the  above  said 
land  and  school-house,  and  full  power  and  authority,  to  send 
what  number  of  children  we  shall  think  fit."  After  quoting  the 
foregoing,  Riker  continues  :  "  This  was  looked  upon  as  a  haz- 
ardous undertaking,  and  one  which  none,  for  many  years,  was 
found  ready  to  incur  the  expense  of  imitating." 

A  dozen  years  later,  in  1734,  several  persons  living  at  Hell 
Gate  Neck  united  their  efforts  and  built  "  a  small  house  for  a 
school  to  be  kept  in  for  the  education  of  their  children."  This 
schoolhouse  was  on  the  river  near  Berrien's  Point,  where  John 
Lawrence  had  presented  "  one  square  rod  of  land  "  as  a  site. 
Of  this  land  he  gave  a  deed  in  1735  to  his  five  associates  in  the 
undertaking. 

Similar  movements  soon  occurred  elsewhere.  In  1739  the 
residents  south  of  Newtown  village  took  steps  to  build  a  school- 
house  a  little  west  of  White  Pot  on  a  plot  of  ground,  "  twenty 
foot  square,"  given  by  Jacobus  Springsteen,  who  executed  a 
deed  to  fourteen  farmers  of  the  neighborhood,  his  "  loving 

1  Riker,  p.  154.  "The  situation  was  now  filled,"  he  proceeds,  "by  Mr.  George 
Reynolds,  who  appears  to  have  occupied  the  town-house,  as  a  vote  was  passed  April 
5th,  1720,  to  rent  him  these  premises." 


256  The  New  York  Public  School 

friends."  A  stone  schoolhouse  was  built,  which  was  in  time 
replaced  by  a  wooden  one  ;  the  present  schoolhouse  is  the  third 
built  on  the  same  site.  In  1739,  also,  the  people  living  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  English  Kills  (a  name  given  to  a  settlement  at 
the  western  end  of  Maspeth,  to  distinguish  it  from  Dutch  Kills) 
built  a  schoolhouse  near  the  residence  of  Richard  Betts.  This 
was  known  as  the  "old  Brook  School,"  as  it  stood  near  a  small 
brook  flowing  into  the  Newtown  Creek.  A  part  of  the  building 
is  said  to  be  still  standing.  "Jacob  Reeder  was  the  preceptor 
here  for  a  long  period ;  a  useful  man  in  his  day,  and  the  town 
clerk  for  above  thirty  years." J  A  schoolhouse  was  built  in  1740 
"  near  the  bridge  at  Newtown,"  the  people  of  the  village  receiving 
assistance  from  those  living  in  other  parts  of  the  town. 

There  were  now  five  schools  in  Newtown.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  any  of  them  were  free,  nor  was  any  provision  made 
by  the  government  for  their  maintenance. 

An  interesting  bit  of  educational  history  is  recorded  in  con- 
nection with  an  English  and  classical  school  which  was  in  opera- 
tion at  Hallett's  Cove  in  1762,  under  the  patronage  of  the  leading 
residents.  It  was  conducted  by  William  Rudge,  who,  in  a 
"  card "  published  in  the  New  York  Mercury,  describes  him- 
self as  "late  of  the  city  of  Gloucester  in  Old  England,"  and 
announces  that  he  "  still  continues  his  school "  and  "  teaches 
Writing  in  the  different  hands,  Arithmetic  in  its  different 
branches,  the  Italian  method  of  Book-keeping  by  way  of  Double 
Entry,  Latin,  and  Greek."  This  "  card"  bore  the  signatures  of 
thirteen  persons  (seven  of  them  Halletts),  who  recommended 
the  master  in  these  words  :  "  We,  who  have  subscribed  our 
names,  being  willing  to  continue  the  school-master,  as  we  have 
hitherto  found  him  a  man  of  close  application,  sobriety,  and 
capable  of  his  office,  are  ready  to  take  in  boarders  at  £18  per 
annum." 

The  educational  history  of  the  town  is  now  a  blank  until,  in 
1814,  it  was'  divided  into  school  districts  under  the  law  provid- 

1  Riker,  p.  159. 


The  Borough  of  Queens  257 

ing  a  general  school  system  for  the  State.  The  before-men- 
tioned school  at  Hallett's  Cove  (this  name  was  dropped  in  1839 
and  that  of  Astoria  substituted)  became  District  School  No.  3, 
and  has  a  very  interesting  history.  By  an  act  of  the  Legisla- 
ture passed  in  1850  this  district  was  declared  to  be  "a  perma- 
nent school  district,"  under  the  direction  of  a  Board  of  Education 
consisting  of  five  members ;  and  in  the  following  year  the  Board 
secured  the  passage  of  a  law  authorizing  the  sale  of  the  old 
schoolhouse  and  site  ("which  is  situated  adjoining  St.  George's 
Church "),  and  the  erection  on  another  site,  given  by  Mr. 
Stephen  A.  Halsey,  of  what  was  known  for  many  years  as  the 
"  Old  Fourth  Ward  School." l  In  an  interesting  monograph 
relating  to  this  school  the  present  principal  (Matthew  D.  Quinn) 
writes : 

"  The  citizens  of  the  district  ever  jealously  guarded  their  right  to  manage 
the  affairs  of  the  school  without  any  interference  from  the  officials  of  the  State 
system. 

"This  is  further  illustrated  by  the  acts  of  1863  and  1867,  exempting  the 
schools  under  our  Board  of  Education  from  the  operation  of  the  general  laws 
relating  to  the  powers  of  the  School  Commissioners. 

"  The  power  to  examine  and  license  teachers  and  the  exclusive  right  of 
supervision  were  reserved  to  the  Board,  and  the  School  Commissioner  of  this 
Commissioner  district  was  enjoined  from  dividing  or  altering  the  district  in  any 
respect." 

In  1870  the  law  was  passed  providing  for  the  incorporation 
of  Long  Island  City,  cutting  off  a  portion  of  Newtown  contain- 
ing Hunter's  Point,  Astoria,  Ravenswood,  Dutch  Kills,  Bliss- 
ville,  and  some  other  settlements,  and  under  the  city  government 
the  schools  were  in  charge  of  a  Board  of  Education  consisting 
of  five  members,  appointed  by  the  Mayor.  At  that  time  there 
were  three  public  schools  in  the  city,  located  in  what  had  been 
three  school  districts  under  the  town  government.  In  District 
No.  3  was  the  school  already  described ;  the  school  for  Bliss- 

1  This  became  Public  School  5,  Long  Island  City,  in  1870,  and  in  1898  Public 
School  5,  Borough  of  Queens.     It  was  demolished  in  1901,  to  make  room  for  a  new 
building,  completed  in  1904. 
s 


258  The  New  York  Public  School 

ville  and  Dutch  Kills  was  in  District  No.  4 ;  District  No.  1 1 
was  in  Hunter's  Point.  A  school  was  provided  for  the  Ravens- 
wood  section  in  1873,  and  a  few  years  later  three  additional 
schools  were  established.  The  Long  Island  City  High  School 
was  organized  in  1889,  at  first  with  a  two  years'  course,  which 
was  later  extended  to  three  years,  and  in  1897  to  four  years. 
This  school  was  housed  in  several  different  buildings  in  its 
earlier  years.  Some  time  before  consolidation  high  school 
departments  were  established  in  the  schools  at  Newtown 
village  and  Woodside. 

The  first  settlers  of  Flushing,  English  folk,  went  there  as 
early  as  1643,  and  in  1657  a  company  of  Quakers  arrived.  The 
early  records  of  the  town  were  destroyed  by  fire  many  years 
ago,  and  definite  information  regarding  schools  in  the  early 
period  cannot  be  supplied.  The  first  teacher,  it  is  supposed, 
was  John  Houlden,  who  taught  a  private  school  from  1660  to 
1670.  Elizabeth  Coperthwaite,  a  daughter  of  a  well-known 
Quaker  preacher,  is  spoken  of  as  having  taught  a  school  from 
1675  to  1 68 1  ;  and  John  Urquhart  is  mentioned  in  1690  as 
a  man  of  family  and  as  keeping  boarding  scholars  to  some 
extent.  In  1703  the  Friends'  meeting  decided  that  a  school- 
master was  necessary  for  the  town,  and  appointed  Samuel 
Hoyt  and  Francis  Doughty  to  "  seek  out  for  a  convenient 
piece  of  ground,  to  purchase  it  and  build  a  school-house  thereon 
for  the  use  of  Friends,  about  Richard  Griffin's  lot  upon  the 
cross  way,  which  is  near  the  centre  of  the  town."  There  is  no 
positive  evidence  that  the  proposed  schoolhouse  was  built ;  but 
six  years  afterward  it  is  recorded  that  "  Thomas  Makins,  school- 
master hath  signified  to  this  meeting  his  willingness  to  sit  with 
his  scholars  in  the  meeting  and  take  care  of  them."  Inci- 
dental mention  of  a  teacher  is  also  found  under  date  of  August 
12,  1715,  when  "  Anthony  Gleane,  of  Flushing,  blacksmith, 
asks  for  letters  of  administration  on  the  estate  of  Jas.  Bettersby, 
schoolmaster  of  the  same  place." 

What  was  done  in  Flushing  during  the  century  following  is 


EVOLUTION  OF  A  SCHOOLHOUSE  — BOROUGH  OF  QUEENS 

1.    Original  Astoria  Schoolhouse  used  until  1851.     2.   Old  Fourth  Ward  School, 

used  1851  to  1901.     3.    Public  School  5,  built  1901-04 


The  Borough  of  Queens  259 

matter  of  surmise.  The  first  free  school  in  the  town  resulted 
from  the  efforts  of  the  Flushing  Female  Association,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  members  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  which  was 
organized  in  I8I4.1  On  April  6th  it  opened  a  small  school  in 
Liberty  street,  the  members  of  the  Association  acting  for  a 
time  as  teachers.  Both  white  and  black  children  were  received 
free,  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  whose  parents  were  able  and 
willing  to  pay.  The  first  paid  teacher  received  a  salary  of 
$15  per  quarter,  with  an  allowance  of  $26  per  quarter  for 
board.2  For  a  time  the  school  received  a  share  of  the  public 
school  funds,  but  after  1844  this  was  cut  off. 

Flushing  village  was  incorporated  in  1837.  About  1843  a 
new  schoolhouse  was  built  for  $500  by  District  No.  5  (com- 
prising all  the  village  and  some  of  the  adjacent  territory)  at 
Garden  and  Church  streets.  By  1847  a  larger  building  was 
required,  but  strenuous  opposition  to  building  it  was  made  by 
some  citizens,  and  many  stormy  meetings  were  held.  It  was 
finally  decided,  by  a  vote  of  37  to  5,  to  raise  $3000  by  tax  and 
to  authorize  the  trustees  to  sell  the  old  building,  to  contract 
for  a  new  one  "  on  the  plan  of  the  New  York  public  schools," 
and  to  propose  a  suitable  site.  In  the  following  year  there 
was  much  discussion  regarding  a  site,  and  the  Legislature 
authorized  the  trustees  to  raise  $6000  by  tax  or  mortgage  for 
the  erection  of  a  building.  A  lot  in  Union  street  was  pur- 
chased, and  the  schoolhouse  built  thereon  was  used  until  1897. 
The  school  was  opened  in  November,  1848,  with  seven  teachers 
and  381  pupils.3 

1  Mark  the  similarity  between  the  work  of  this  Association  and  that  done  by 
societies  of  philanthropic  women  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  in  1802  and  1813  (see 
Chapters  I  and  XXIII). 

2  This  is  the'statement  of  Waller  in  his  History  of  the  Town  of  Flushing  (1899), 
p.  175.     In  Mandeville's  Flushing,  Past  and  Present  (1860)  it  is  put  in  a  slightly 
different  way  : — "In  the  report  of  July  1st,  1814,  it  is  stated  a  teacher  had  been 
engaged  at  a  salary  of  sixty  dollars  per  annum,  with  two  dollars  a  week  for  board  " 
(p.  127). 

8  The  principal  was  Thomas  F.  Harrison,  afterward  Assistant  Superintendent  in 


260  The  New  York  Public  School 

By  a  law  enacted  in  1848  the  village  of  Flushing  was  pro- 
vided with  a  Board  of  Education  of  five  members,  elected  by  the 
people.  There  were  two  schools  in  the  village  and  eight  in  the 
remainder  of  the  town  at  the  time  of  consolidation  with  New 
York,  and  also  a  high  school  in  the  village.  The  high  school 
was  established  in  1875.  In  1873  the  village  decided  to  issue 
bonds  to  the  amount  of  $40,000  for  the  erection  of  a  high  school 
building,  which  was  used  in  part  for  elementary  school  purposes. 

Common  schools  were  organized  in  Whitestone  in  1857,  m 
College  Point  in  1859,  and  in  Bayside  in  1864.  In  Whitestone, 
John  McDermott  is  reputed  to  have  been  the  first  teacher,  about 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1818  a  lot  was 
leased  for  $3,  and  a  schoolhouse  put  up  at  a  cost  of  $250.  This 
was  used  for  twenty  years,  but,  being  found  too  small,  was 
replaced  in  1838  by  one  costing  $800,  located  in  what  was 
then  the  central  part  of  the  town. 

The  year  1656  marks  the  beginning  of  the  settlement  of 
Jamaica,  and  the  first  record  of  a  school  in  the  town  is  found 
just  twenty  years  later.  In  that  year  Richard  Jones  was 
allowed  to  use  the  little  stone  church  "  for  to  teach  scoule  in 
for  ye  yere  ensuing,  provided  he  keep  ye  windowes  from  break- 
ing and  keep  it  deasent  and  cleane  on  Saturday  nights  against 
ye  Lord's  Day  and  seats  to  be  placed  in  order."  Mention  is 
made  of  a  school  kept  by  one  "  Goody  "  Davis  some  years  after- 
ward. In  1705  Henry  Lindley  received  from  Governor  Corn- 
bury  a  license  to  teach  school  in  Jamaica,  and  about  the  same 
time  a  similar  privilege  was  granted  to  Thomas  Huddleston. 
The  Rev.  Thomas  Poyer,  in  1724,  complainingly  referred  to 
the  fact  that  the  schools  in  Jamaica,  Newtown,  and  Flushing 
were  taught  by  Quakers  or  Presbyterians.  Two  years  later  a 
public  meeting  was  held  to  consider  the  question  of  establishing 
a  free  school,  but  nothing  was  accomplished  in  that  direction. 

New  York  for  many  years.  Mandeville  says  that  previous  to  the  opening  of  this 
school  there  were  only  213  children  attending  all  the  schools  in  the  village.  He 
remarks  that  "an  evening  school  was  started  in  the  winter  of  1859"  (p.  130). 


The  Borough  of  Queens  261 

"  Still  the  educational  facilities  of  Jamaica  seem  to  have  been 
ample  at  all  times,  and  several  of  the  teachers,  such  as  James 
Lockhart,  Thomas  Temple  and  John  Moore,  all  pre-Revolution- 
ary  schoolmasters,  were  men  of  more  than  ordinary  education. 
In  1777  Andrew  Wilson  opened  a  grammar  school,  and  in  1784 
the  Rev.  Matthias  Burnet,  the  Presbyterian  minister,  opened  a 
private  school,  in  which  he  proposed  to  teach  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  for  which  he  had  engaged  '  a  person '  to  teach  the  common 
branches,  writing,  bookkeeping,  vulgar  arithmetic  and  the  like. 
The  opening,  in  1791,  of  Union  Hall  Academy  led  the  way  to 
other  schemes  of  higher  education.  ...  In  1812  the  common- 
school  system  of  the  state  superseded  all  private  enterprises  to 
a  great  extent  and  put  all  the  primary  schools  in  the  common- 
wealth within  a  short  time  on  a  standard  basis." l 

One  of  the  historians  records  that  in  1813  Jamaica  voted  to 
receive  its  quota  of  the  State  school  fund  and  to  raise  $125  the 
next  year,  while  in  the  following  year  it  was  "voted  that  the 
town  do  not  receive  their  quota  of  money  from  the  State  as 
regards  common  schools,  and  agreed  that  the  town  give  the 
money  to  the  poor  that  was  raised  as  the  quota  for  common 
schools." 

There  were  twenty-three  schools  in  the  town  of  Jamaica  at 
the  time  of  consolidation,  in  1898,  including  two  high  school 
departments,  one  in  Jamaica  village  and  one  in  Richmond  Hill. 

The  part  of  the  town  of  Hempstead  which  came  into  Greater 
New  York  upon  consolidation  contained  three  school  districts 
and  six  schools  :  in  the  school  at  Far  Rockaway  there  was  a 
high  school  department. 

1  A  History  of  Long  Island,  Ross,  Vol.  I,  p.  563.  The  above-mentioned  school 
of  Andrew  Wilson  was  advertised  on  January  13,  1777,  thus  :  "Andrew  Wilson  is 
now  opening  a  grammar  school.  Board  may  be  procured  at  Jamaica." 


CHAPTER  XXXI 
THE  BOROUGH   OF  THE   BRONX 

^  FOUR  former  towns  of  Westchester  County  and  parts  of  two 
others  make  up  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx.  Only  two  of  the 
towns,  Westchester  and  Eastchester,  antedate  the  Revolution  ; 
the  others  were  created  by  division  and  separation.  Pelham 
came  into  existence  in  1788  (at  the  time  when,  under  the  State 
government,  Westchester  and  Eastchester  were  constituted 
towns  of  Westchester  County);  West  Farms  dates  from  1846, 
Morrisania  from  1855,  an(i  Kingsbridge  from  1872,  the  latter 
having  been  set  off  as  a  separate  town  only  two  years  before  its 
annexation  to  New  York.  Besides  Kingsbridge,  Morrisania 
and  West  Farms  were  taken  into  the  city  at  the  beginning  of 
1874;  Westchester  and  parts  of  Eastchester  and  Pelham  were 
annexed  in  1895.  Through  the  earlier  annexation  eight  gram- 
mar and  six  primary  schools,  and  through  the  later  six  grammar 
and  three  primary  schools  were  added  to  the  New  York  system. 
Westchester  and  Eastchester  were  not  settled  by  the  Dutch, 
and,  so  far  as  the  early  records  can  be  traced,  there  was  not,  in 
the  former  at  least,  the  same  zeal  for  the  school  and  the  school- 
master in  the  early  days  as  we  have  found  in  the  Dutch  settle- 
ments on  Manhattan  Island  and  Long  Island.  The  early 
schools  were  church  schools,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  determine 
how  deeply  the  idea  of  the  free  school  had  taken  root.  In  one 
case  it  is  stated  that  the  schoolmaster  received  what  the  parents 
of  the  pupils  paid  ;  the  probabilities  are  that  the  children  of  the 
poor  received  free  instruction. 

In  Westchester  the  earliest  reference  to  a  school  is  found 
after  the  year  1700.     In  Eastchester  there  was  an  earlier  begin- 

262 


The  Borough  of  The  Bronx  263 

ning.  The  "  agreement  "  made  by  the  settlers  of  that  town 
soon  after  they  took  up  their  abode  there,  in  1664,  contained  an 
article  to  the  effect  "  That  provision  be  endeavored  for  educa- 
tion of  children,  and  then  encouragement  be  given  unto  any 
that  shall  take  pains  according  to  our  former  way  of  rating." 
According  to  Scharf's  History  of  Westchester  County}  the  refer- 
ence in  the  last  clause  quoted  was  to  the  collective  education  of 
children  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed  in  Connecticut. 

Bolton  states,  in  his  History  of  the  County  of  Westchester, 
that  "The  first  school-house  [in  Eastchester]  was  erected  in 
1683,  for  at  a  public  meeting  of  the  inhabitants,  held  on  the  I5th 
of  October  of  that  year,  it  was  ordered  '  that  a  school-house  be 
erected  upon  a  site  between  the  property  of  Richard  Shute  and 
William  Haiden,  and  encouragement  given  to  Mr.  Morgan 
Jones  to  become  the  school-master.' '  He  adds  that  "  the  build- 
ing occupied  the  site  of  the  present  village  school-house."  2 
Mr.  Jones,  who  in  1680  was  officiating  as  minister  in  the  village 
of  Westchester,  does  not  appear  to  have  yielded  to  the  "  en- 
couragement." On  this  point  Scharf  says :  "  The  encourage- 
ment then  given  to  Mr.  Morgan  to  be  their  school-master  did 
not,  it  would  seem,  add  any  more  to  his  haste  to  comply  with 
their  wishes  than  the  call,  three  years  previous,  to  be  their  min- 
ister." This  historian  states  that  the  erection  of  a  schoolhouse 
was  not  determined  upon  until  1683,  and  intimates  a  doubt  as 
to  whether  it  had  actually  been  built  in  1697.  However  that 
may  be,  in  1696  Benjamin  Collier  is  recorded  as  serving  in  the 
office  of  schoolmaster. 

A  few  years  later  a  schoolhouse  must  have  been  provided,  for 
in  1713  "  two  overseers  of  ye  school  in  ye  town  "  were  appointed. 
That  it  did  not  meet  the  wants  of  the  town  indefinitely  is  evident 
from  action  taken  in  1726,  when  it  was  agreed  to  vote  at  a 
public  town  meeting  that  a  lot  of  land  be  laid  out  "  for  to  build 
a  school-house  thereon,"  "  out  of  the  comon,"  and  that  the 
schoolhouse  be  built  "  twenty  foot  long  and  fourteen  foot  wide, 

1  Vol.  II,  p.  730.  2  Vol.  I,  p.  214. 


264  The  New  York  Public  School 

and  seven  foot  between  joyntts  in  height."  In  this  spacious 
edifice  Mr.  Delpech  was  carrying  on  the  work  of  a  teacher  in 
1728,  and  he  was  spoken  of  by  the  minister  as  "very  well 
adapted  and  fitted  for  that  business,  and  as  well  spoken  of  as 
being  diligent  in  it."  His  income  was  "what  the  parents  of  the 
children  taught  do  give." 

From  this  time  until  after  the  Revolutionary  period  the 
records  are  missing.  In  1797  there  were  four  schools  in  the 
entire  town. 

In  Westchester,  where  the  first  settlement  was  made  in  1654, 
the  establishment  of  a  school  appears  to  have  been  due  to  the 
famous  British  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts.  In  1702  the  Rev.  John  Bartow  was  sent  by  this 
Society  as  a  missionary  to  Westchester,  and  on  October  30, 
1709,  we  find  him  writing  to  the  Society,  "  We  want  very  much 
a  fixed  school  at  Westchester,"  and  recommending  Daniel 
Clark  as  a  person  worthy  of  employment,  "  being  of  good  report, 
a  constant  communicant,  and  being  a  clergyman's  son,  has  had 
a  pious  and  learned  education."  Clark  (the  name  is  also  spelled 
Clarke)  was  engaged,  and  was  the  teacher  from  1710  to  1713. 
He  was  .preceded,  in  1709,  by  Edward  Fitzgerald,  and  followed 
by  Charles  Glover.  Each  of  these  three  schoolmasters  received 
a  salary  of  £iS  per  annum. 

The  Society's  abstracts  for  1713  contain  the  following  with 
reference  to  the  last-named  :  "  Mr.  Charles  Glover  is  appointed 
schoolmaster  at  Westchester,  with  a  salary  of  £iS  per  annum, 
as  he  is  recommended  under  the  character  of  a  person  sober 
and  diligent,  well  affected  toward  the  Church  of  England,  and 
competently  skilled  in  reading,  writing,  arithmetic,  psalmody 
and  the  Latin  tongue."  Glover  remained  until  1719,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  William  Forster,  who  is  mentioned  repeatedly 
in  the  records  of  the  Society.  The  first  reference  to  him,  in 
1719,  is  as  follows:  "To  Mr.  William  Forster,  schoolmaster 
at  Westchester,  who  has  been  recommended  as  a  person  very 
well  qualified  to  instruct  the  youth  in  the  principles  of  religion 


The  Borough  of  The  Bronx  265 

and  virtue,  ten  pounds  per  annum  is  allowed ;  and  a  gratuity  of 
£10  has  been  given  him,  in  consideration  of  his  past  services  and 
his  present  circumstances." 1 

As  might  be  expected,  a  schoolmaster  in  the  employ  of  the 
venerable  Society  above  mentioned  had  many  religious  duties 
to  perform,  though  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  undertaker, 
sexton,  and  gravedigger,  as  was  the  schoolmaster  in  the  Dutch 
communities.  For  instance,  in  1/19,  Mr.  Forster  reported  that 
"  he  has  at  present  thirty-five  scholars,  whom  he  catechises 
every  Saturday,  and  also  every  Sunday  that  Mr.  Bartow  goes  to 
another  part  of  the  parish,  together  with  all  others  who  will 
attend,  and  has  good  success  ;  which  is  also  attested  by  the 
minister  and  chief  inhabitants  of  Westchester."  A  later  entry 
is  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Forster  "  takes  all  the  care  he  can  of 
the  children  which  are  sent  to  him,  and  has  upwards  of  thirty 
scholars,  which  he  instructs  in  the  Church  Catechism." 

An  entry  somewhat  more  interesting  is  found  in  the  year 
1723,  when  Mr.  Forster  announces  that  "the  number  of  his 
scholars  is  as  usual,  and  that  he  has  very  good  success  in  his 
teaching,  and  that  they  are  this  summer  building  a  new  school- 
house  ;  and  he  is  raising  an  annual  subscription  for  repairing  and 
furnishing  the  church." 

No  other  schoolmaster's  name  is  found  until  I743.2  Begin- 
ning with  that  year,  they  were  as  follows:  1743,  Basil  Bartow; 
1764,  Nathaniel  Seabury;  1768,  George  Youngs;  1774,  Mr. 
Gott.  The  salary  is  put  down  as  £10  in  each  case. 

Under  the  State  government,  after  the  Revolutionary  War, 
the  towns  of  Westchester  County,  as  a  whole,  manifested  a  good 
degree  of  interest  in  educational  matters.  By  the  "  Act  for  the 
encouragement  of  schools,"  adopted  in  1795,  as  stated  in  an 

1  In  Holland  Documents  (Vol.  V,  p.  978),  a  note  states  that  "  William  Forster 
was  schoolmaster  in  the  town  of  Westchester,  under  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  as  early  as  1719." 

2  Bolton  (Vol.  II,  p.  399)  gives  a  list  of  the  schoolmasters  at  Westchester  from 
1709  to  1774.     If  complete,  it  would  indicate  that  Mr.  Forster's   term   of  service 
extended  from  1719  to  1743. 


266  The  New  York  Public  School 

earlier  chapter,  the  State  appropriated  .£20,000  each  year  for 
five  years  for  school  purposes,  and  Westchester  County  received 
as  its  quota  ^"1192.  The  several  towns  promptly  voted  an 
appropriation  equal  to  one-half  of  the  amount  received  from  the 
State,  and  School  Commissioners  were  appointed  to  look  after 
the  details.  An  interesting  paper  formerly  on  file  in  the  office 
of  the  Town  Clerk  of  Eastchester  had  reference  to  this  money. 
It  bore  the  date  June  19,  1795,  and  read  :  "  We  the  Supervisors 
of  the  County  of  Westchester,  ...  do  certify  to  the  Town  of 
Eastchester  that  the  apportionment  of  money  by  us  allotted  to 
the  said  Town  by  virtue  of  the  act  aforesaid  [the  act  of  1795], 
is  thirty-seven  pounds  twelve  shillings  and  seven  pence."  * 

"Just as  readily,  in  1812,  when  an  equal  sum  to  the  appropri- 
ation by  the  State  was  in  a  new  Act  asked  of  each  town,  the 
vote  was  readily  given,  and  the  proper  officials  named.  During 
this  period,  throughout  the  county,  school-houses  were  being 
restored  or  re-erected."2 

The  territory  annexed  to  the  former  city  of  New  York  in 
1874  became  the  Twenty-third  and  Twenty-fourth  Wards,  and 
was  long  known  as  the  Annexed  District.  Its  schools  passed 
directly  under  the  control  of  the  Board  of  Education,  without 
any  change  in  the  membership  of  that  body  ;  the  new  wards 
formed  an  additional  school  district,  for  which  Inspectors  were 
appointed  by  the  Mayor,  and  Trustees  by  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation. Before  the  annexation  there  were  four  local  Boards  of 
Education  in  what  became  the  Annexed  District :  one  for  Mor- 
risania  and  one  for  Kingsbridge,  while  in  West  Farms  there 
were  two  Boards,  one  for  each  of  the  school  districts.  The 
annexation  in  1895  caused  no  change  in  the  school  officers  of 
the  Twenty-fourth  Ward. 

1  A  facsimile  of  this  document  is  given  by  Scharf  (Vol.  I,  p.  474). 

2  Scharf,  Vol.  I,  p.  474. 


CHAPTER  XXXII 
THE  BOROUGH   OF   RICHMOND 

THE  early  records  of  Staten  Island  are  very  meagre  in  the 
matter  of  schools  and  schoolmasters.  According  to  tradition, 
the  first  school  was  located  at  or  near  Stony  Brook,  "  and  was 
probably  in  the  same  little  structure  that  stood  near  the  Moravian 
Church  —  that  location  being  considered  in  the  Stony  Brook 
neighborhood  at  that  time.  It  is  perfectly  natural  that  it 
should  have  been  located  near  the  Court  House  and  Church."  1 
To  the  Waldenses  and  Huguenots  must  be  given  the  credit  of 
founding  the  first  school  in  what  is  now  the  Borough  of 
Richmond.  The  number  of  inhabitants  at  that  time  is  believed 
not  to  have  exceeded  three  hundred. 

The  first  school  of  which  there  is  any  authentic  history  was 
established  at  what  is  now  called  New  Springville,  between  1690 
and  1700.  This  schoolhouse  was  enlarged  in  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  but  the  walls  of  the  original  building  stood 
until  1888,  when  the  whole  structure  was  razed  to  the  ground 
in  order  to  make  room  for  a  new  building. 

"  The  writer  attended  the  meeting  when  it  was  decided  to  demolish  the  old 
building.  There  were  the  great,  thick  stone  walls,  crumbling  and  damp  and 
mouldy.  There  were  the  rude  desks,  where  time  and  the  boys  had  evidently 
carried  on  a  spirited  competition  in  their  efforts  at  destruction.  Great  holes 
were  in  the  floor;  the  plaster  had  fallen  from  the  ceiling  ;  the  little,  old- 
fashioned  stove  was  almost  devoured  by  rust;  the  well-worn  black-board 
resembled  a  mutilated  target,  and  in  every  nook  and  corner  there  was  devas- 
tation and  ruin.  And  yet,  there  were  those  present  who  declared  that  the  old 

1  Memorial  History  of  Staten  Island,  Morris,  Vol.  II,  p.  361.  In  the  prepara- 
Jon  of  this  chapter  Mr.  Morris's  work  has  been  freely  drawn  upon.  He  gives  no 
date  for  the  establishment  of  the  above-mentioned  school. 

267 


268  The  New  York  Public  School 

school-house  was  good  enough!  It  was  not  until  after  the  Commissioner  had 
told  his  audience  what  power  he  had  in  the  premises,  that  the  fate  of  the 
oldest  school-house  on  the  Island  was  sealed.  All  that  remains  to-day  of  the 
venerable  structure  is  the  foundation  of  a  modern  building  which  is  composed 
of  the  material  taken  from  the  time-honored  walls." x 

In  the  early  years  of  the  eighteenth  century  not  a  little  was 
done  in  the  direction  of  education  by  the  Society  for  the  Propa- 
gation of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  which  has  already  been 
mentioned  more  than  once  in  these  pages.  The  missionary  of 
this  Society  in  Staten  Island,  Mr.  Mackenzy,  in  1710  called  the 
Society's  attention  to  the  importance  of  having  schoolmasters  to 
instruct  the  children  in  English,  Dutch,  and  French,  and  recom- 
mended as  teachers  Adam  Brown  and  Benjamin  Drewit,  who 
were  selected  for  the  purpose.  In  1712  Francis  Williamson  and 
John  DuPuy  were  employed  by  the  Society  in  a  similar  capacity, 
each  at  a  salary  of  .£10  a  year ;  and  apparently  Mr.  Brown  was 
retained  in  the  Society's  employ.  A  report  made  by  Mr.  Brown, 
of  Richmond,  dated  April  10,  1713,  is  still  preserved.2  It  states 
that  he  had  continued  to  keep  school  in  the  south  precinct  of 
the  county;  that  he  had  taught  during  the  preceding  year 
thirty-five  children  to  "read,  write,  and  cypher,"  and  the  cate- 
chism of  the  church,  with  the  explanations  thereof,  to  such  as 
were  capable ;  that  twenty-four  of  his  scholars  had  been  publicly 
catechized  in  the  church,  and  the  readiness  with  which  they 
answered  all  the  questions  asked  was  admired  by  all  who  heard 
them  ;  that  he  taught  them  the  use  of  the  "  common  prayer,"  so 
that  the  children  could  join  with  the  congregation  in  divine  ser- 

1  Morris,  Vol.  II,  p.  363. 

2  Mr.  Morris's  narrative  is  not  entirely  clear  on  this  point.     After  mentioning 
Brown  and  Drewit  as  having  been  appointed  in  1710,  he  says  that  they  "  seem  to  have 
been  continued  during  the  two  following  years,"   and   notes   the   appointment  of 
Williamson  and  DuPuy  in  1712;   then  he  proceeds:  "  So  beneficial  to  the  people  did 
the  work  of  these  early  schoolmasters  appear  to  be,  that  the  Society  determined,  in 
1713,  to  employ  three  more.     The  report  of  Mr.  Brown,  of  Richmond,  one  of  these 
teachers,  is  preserved."     In  the  report  mentioned,  however,  Mr.  Brown  speaks  of 
having  continued  to  keep  school ;  which  would  make  it  appear  probable  that  he  was 
one  of  those  appointed  in  1710. 


The  Borough  of  Richmond  269 

vice.  Mr.  Brown's  report  was  certified  by  the  minister  and  the 
Board  of  Justices  of  the  county. 

In  1717  Charles  Taylor  is  recorded  as  the  schoolmaster  of 
the  Society,  his  salary  being  .£15  per  annum,  and  he  carried  on 
the  work  for  many  years.  In  1722  and  1723  he  was  teaching 
forty-three  and  forty-two  pupils,  respectively,  at  Richmond. 
In  addition  to  the  regular  day  school  which  he  conducted,  he 
also  carried  on  a  night  school  for  the  instruction  of  negroes  and 
of  white  children  who  were  obliged  to  work  in  the  daytime. 
He  remained  in  the  service  until  his  death,  in  1742,  when  he 
was  succeeded  by  Andrew  Wright,  who  was  certified  as  "  a 
Person  of  Good  Morals,  and  a  constant  Communicant,  and  well 
qualified  to  teach,"  and  who  was  appointed  as  schoolmaster  "  to 
instruct  the  poor  white,  and  Black  Children  also,  if  any  such  are 
brought  to  him,  gratis,  in  the  Principles  of  Christianity,  and  to 
read  the  Bible  and  the  Common-prayer  Book." 

A  certificate  to  be  found  among  the  county  records  shows 
that  in  1769  James  Forest  had  been  acting  as  schoolteacher  in 
the  western  part  of  Staten  Island  for  two  years  and  a  half. 
It  was  signed  by  twenty-four  persons,  who  stated  that  "  we 
know  nothing  of  him  but  what  is  Just  and  honest,  Teaching 
and  Instructing  of  Pupils  in  such  parts  of  Literature  as  their 
Capacity  Could  Contain  ;  with  great  Fidelity  and  Justice,  Giving 
due  and  Regular  Attendance  in  said  school  to  our  Mutual  & 
Intire  Satisfaction  and  likewise  Instructed  them  in  their  Parts 
and  Honours  to  our  great  Fidelity,  and  now  to  part  at  his  own 
Request." 

There  is  ground  for  believing  that  there  was,  in  1784,  a 
traditional  "  old  red  schoolhouse  "  near  the  site  of  the  one  now 
in  use  at  Castleton  Corners,  located  on  what  was  then  known  as 
the  Dawson  estate. 

As  Governor  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  was  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing the  passage  of  the  law  of  1812,  providing  for  the  distribution 
of  the  Common  School  Fund,  it  was  natural  that  Tompkinsville 
(which  received  its  name  from  him)  should  organize  a  school 


270  The  New  York  Public  School 

under  the  new  law  at  an  early  date.  The  school  established 
there  was  in  a  flourishing  condition  in  1815.  "It  is  said," 
writes  Mr.  Morris,  "  that  Governor  Tompkins  used  to  visit  the 
school  at  least  once  a  week,  and  not  only  gave  prizes  to  the 
bright  scholars,  but  paid  a  part  of  the  teacher's  salary  out  of  his 
own  pocket." 

Mr.  Morris  is  authority  for  the  following  statement : 1 

"  It  is  an  interesting  fact,  although  a  sad  commentary  upon  our  forefathers, 
that  not  only  on  Staten  Island  but  throughout  America  the  public  schools 
were  not  open  to  girls  until  1790,  and  then  for  only  two  or  three  hours  a  day 
during  the  summer  months,  when  there  were  not  enough  boys  in  attendance 
to  keep  the  school  going.  They  were  regularly  admitted  by  law  in  New  York 
State  in  1822." 

The  present  writer,  in  his  researches,  has  found  no  evidence 
justifying  Mr.  Morris's  assertion  that  girls  were  excluded  from 
"the  public  schools  "  before  1790;  in  point  of  fact,  there  were 
no  public  schools,  in  the  modern  meaning  of  the  words,  until 
after  that  date. 

"  The  law  which  created  separate  districts  and  elected  three 
trustees  —  one  of  whom  was  elected  each  year  —  vesting  them 
with  almost  absolute  power,  worked  to  the  serious  detriment  of 
the  public  schools.  While  in  some  of  the  districts  fair-minded 
and  intelligent  men  were  selected,  it  often  happened  that  illit- 
erate and  narrow-minded  individuals  were  given  the  power  to 
rule,  and  often  to  ruin.  We  have  witnessed  the  engagement 
of  teachers  solely  because  they  would  accept  meagre  salaries  - 
the  question  of  ability  not  being  taken  into  consideration.  A 
miserly  policy,  too,  was  manifested  in  the  shabby  structures  that 
served  as  school-houses.  Some  of  them  were  unfit  for  barns  or 
cattle-sheds,  much  less  for  the  day  homes  of  the  boys  and  girls 
who  were  seeking  an  education. 

"  About  twenty  years  ago  [this  was  written  about  1900]  one 
of  the  local  newspapers  took  the  matter  in  hand.  The  disgrace 
to  the  Island  which  such  school-houses  caused,  was  plainly 

1  Vol.  II,  p.  366. 


The  Borough  of  Richmond  271 

portrayed,  and  finally  public  opinion  was  moulded  in  favor  of 
better  buildings.  One  by  one  the  districts  began  to  wake  up  to 
the  necessities  of  the  hour,  and  soon  modern  structures  stood 
where  the  antiquated  barracks  had  formerly  disgraced  the 
ground."  1 

At  the  date  of  consolidation  the  number  of  schools  on  Staten 
Island  was  twenty-nine,  of  which  seven  were  union  free  schools 
and  the  remainder  common  schools.  There  were  three  high 
school  departments,  located  in  the  schools  at  Tottenville,  Staple- 
ton,  and  Port  Richmond. 

1  Morris,  Vol.  II,  p.  367. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 

THE   CONSOLIDATION  OF  1898 

THE  Greater  New  York  Charter  (Chapter  387  of  the  laws  of 
1897),  providing  for  the  consolidation  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
the  city  of  Brooklyn,  a  part  of  Queens  County  (as  it  then  existed), 
and  the  whole  of  Richmond  County,  effected  important  changes 
in  the  management  of  the  schools  in  the  consolidated  territory 
as  a  whole,  although  as  respects  the  greater  part  of  the  enlarged 
city  the  existing  systems  were  retained,  with  only  such  modifi- 
cations as  were  made  necessary  by  the  new  order  of  things. 

For  school  purposes  the  Borough  of  Manhattan  and  the 
Borough  of  The  Bronx  were  treated  as  a  unit,  and  the  Board  of 
Education  of  the  former  city  of  New  York  (without  change  in 
membership)  became  the  School  Board  for  the  Boroughs  of 
Manhattan  and  The  Bronx.  The  Board  of  Education  of  the 
city  of  Brooklyn,  likewise,  became  the  School  Board  for  the 
Borough  of  Brooklyn.  In  the  Boroughs  of  Queens  and  Rich- 
mond, where  a  large  number  of  independent  school  organizations, 
mostly  limited  by  district  lines,  existed  at  the  time  of  consolida- 
tion, provision  was  made  in  the  Charter  for  the  appointment  by 
the  Mayor  of  School  Boards,  consisting  of  nine  members  for 
each  Borough. 

The  members  of  the  two  Boards  of  Education  mentioned 
above  were,  by  the  provisions  of  the  Charter,  to  serve  out  the 
terms  for  which  they  had  been  appointed,  and  their  successors 
were  to  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor  for  terms  of  three  years.  The 
titles  of  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  in  New  York  and  the 
Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  in  Brooklyn  were  changed 
to  that  of  Borough  Superintendent,  and  all  the  Assistant  Super- 

272 


The  Consolidation  of  1898  273 

intendents  became  Associate  Borough  Superintendents.  In 
Queens,  and  also  in  Richmond,  it  was  provided  that  the  School 
Board  should  appoint  a  Borough  Superintendent  and  at  least  two 
Associate  Borough  Superintendents.  In  each  Borough  the 
Borough  Superintendent  and  the  Associate  Borough  Superin- 
tendents constituted  the  Borough  Board  of  Superintendents. 

A  Board  of  Education  for  the  consolidated  city  was  also 
provided  for,  made  up  of  delegates  or  representatives  from  the 
several  School  Boards.  This  Board  (which  soon  came  to  be 
known  in  common  speech  as  the  "  Central  Board  ")  was  com- 
posed of  eleven  delegates  from  the  School  Board  for  Manhat- 
tan and  The  Bronx  (including  the  President);  six  delegates 
from  the  School  Board  for  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn  (including 
the  President),  and  the  Presidents  of  the  School  Boards  for 
Queens  and  Richmond  —  nineteen  members  in  all.  The  Central 
Board  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  Secretary,  a  Superintendent 
of  School  Buildings,  a  Superintendent  of  School  Supplies,  a  City 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  one  or  more  Auditors,  a  Chief  Clerk, 
four  Examiners,  and  other  officers ;  and  each  of  the  School 
Boards  was  authorized  to  appoint  a  Secretary,  an  Assistant 
Secretary  (or  Chief  Clerk),  a  Borough  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  and  sundry  Associate  Borough  Superintendents. 
Terms  of  six  years  were  fixed  for  the  Superintendent  of  School 
Buildings,  the  Superintendent  of  School  Supplies,  the  City 
Superintendent  of  Schools,  the  several  Borough  Superintend- 
ents, and  all  Associate  Superintendents,  and  terms  of  four  years 
for  the  Examiners. 

A  novel  feature  of  the  new  system  was  the  creation  of  a 
Board  of  Examiners,  consisting  of  the  City  Superintendent  and 
the  four  Examiners  just  referred  to,  the  latter  being  appointed 
by  the  Board  of  Education  on  the  nomination  of  the  City 
Superintendent.  The  Board  of  Examiners  was  entrusted  with 
the  duty  of  examining  all  candidates  for  teacherships  in  the  city 
and  the  preparation  of  eligible  lists  of  those  passing  examinations, 
and  the  City  Superintendent  was  required  to  transmit  to  each 


274  The  New  York  Public  School 

School  Board  the  lists  available  within  its  jurisdiction.  All 
licenses  were  issued  in  the  name  of  the  City  Superintendent. 
It  was  made  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Education,  on  the 
recommendation  of  the  City  Superintendent,  to  designate  the 
"  minimum  requirements  to  prevail  throughout  the  city  for  all 
officers  to  be  appointed  to  any  supervising  or  teaching  position 
under  any  school  board  "  ;  and  each  School  Board  was  author- 
ized, on  the  recommendation  of  the  Borough  Board  of  Superin- 
tendents, to  designate  "  the  kinds  or  grades  of  licenses  to  teach 
which  mayor  shall  be  used  in  the  borough  or  boroughs  under  its 
charge,"  and  also  the  "  academical  and  professional  qualifications 
required  for  service  in  the  boroughs  under  its  charge  of  prin- 
cipals, branch  principals,  supervisors,  heads  of  departments, 
assistants  and  all  other  members  of  the  teaching  staff." 

The  Charter  provided  that,  "  except  as  superintendent  or 
associate  superintendent,  as  supervisor  or  director  of  a  special 
branch,  as  principal  of  or  teacher  in  a  training  school  or  high 
school,  no  person  shall  be  appointed  to  any  educational  position 
whose  name  does  not  appear  upon  the  proper  list " ;  that  no 
person  without  a  license  should  teach  in  the  schools  of  the  city ; 
and  that  no  unlicensed  teacher  should  have  any  claim  for  salary. 
All  licenses  were  required  to  be  issued  for  one  year  only,  and 
were  renewable  by  the  City  Superintendent  for  two  successive 
years  :  at  the  end  of  three  years  of  continuous  successful  service 
that  official  might  make  them  permanent. 

As  licenses  were  granted  by  the  Board  of  Examiners  and 
appointments  made  by  the  Borough  School  Boards,  a  complete 
separation  was  made  between  the  examining  power  and  the 
appointing  power. 

The  City  Superintendent,  under  the  Charter  of  1897,  had 
the  right  of  visitation  and  inquiry  in  all  the  schools  of  the  city, 
and  the  right  to  report  to  the  Board  of  Education  on  the  educa- 
tional system  ;  but  it  was  distinctly  provided  that  "  he  shall  have 
no  right  of  interference  with  the  actual  conduct  of  any  school  in 
the  city  of  New  York."  He  was  given  a  seat  in  the  Board  of 


The  Consolidation  of  1898  275 

Education,  with  the  right  to  speak  on  all  matters  before  the 
Board,  but  not  to  vote.  In  like  manner,  the  Borough  Superin- 
tendents had  seats  in  the  School  Boards,  and  could  speak  but 
not  vote.  The  City  Superintendent  was  empowered  to  visit  the 
schools  and  inquire  into  their  courses  of  instruction,  manage- 
ment, and  discipline ;  to  call  together  the  Borough  Superintend- 
ents and  Associate  Superintendents  for  consultation ;  to  report 
any  case  of  gross  misconduct,  insubordination,  neglect  of  duty, 
or  general  inefficiency  on  the  part  of  any  Borough  Superintend- 
ent or  Associate  Superintendent ;  and  to  make  an  annual  report 
to  the  Board  of  Education.  The  Borough  Boards  of  Superin- 
tendents were  charged  with  the  duty  of  nominating  to  the 
School  Boards  principals  and  teachers  for  appointment,  transfer, 
and  promotion  (except  in  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn) ;  of  recom- 
mending courses  of  study  and  modifications  of  the  same ;  of 
recommending  text-books,  etc. 

While  all  appointments  of  members  of  the  teaching  staff, 
except  as  noted  above,  were  required  to  be  made  from  eligible 
lists  prepared  by  the  Board  of  Examiners,  there  was  no  provision 
of  law  that  the  names  should  be  taken  in  any  particular  order 
from  such  lists ;  hence  the  appointing  power  was  at  liberty  to 
select  for  appointment  a  person  standing  anywhere  on  the 
appropriate  list.  The  Charter  provided  that  principals  and  all 
other  members  of  the  teaching  staff  should  be  appointed  by  the 
School  Board,  on  the  nomination  of  the  Borough  Board  of 
Superintendents,  and  that  "for  all  purposes  affecting  the  ap- 
pointment, promotion,  or  transfer  of  the  teachers  in  any  school, 
the  principal  of  such  school  shall  have  a  seat  in  the  borough 
board  of  superintendents,  with  a  vote  on  all  propositions  affect- 
ing his  school."  But  in  the  matter  of  appointments  an  excep- 
tion was  made  in  favor  of  Brooklyn  by  the  following  provision, 
found  in  Section  1103  : 

"  The  system  or  mode  of  nomination  in  this  section  provided  for  shall  not 
be  held  to  deprive  any  school  board  that  has  been  a  board  of  education,  of  the 
right  to  appoint,  to  promote,  and  to  transfer  principals,  teachers  and  other 


276  The  New  York  Public  School 

members  of  the  teaching  staff  without  such  nomination  [/.*.,  by  the  Borough 
Board  of  Superintendents],  in  any  borough  in  which,  at  the  time  this  act  takes 
effect,  said  board  of  education  enjoys  such  right  of  appointment  without  nomi- 
nation by  superintendents,  until  the  same  shall  have  been  adopted  by  the  school 
board  of  such  borough." 

This  provision  permitted  the  local  committee  system  (which 
has  been  described  in  Chapter  XXIX)  to  be  continued  in 
Brooklyn. 

The  School  Boards  were  authorized  to  choose  and  determine 
sites  for  school  buildings ;  whatever  action  was  necessary  for  the 
acquisition  of  the  same  was  then  taken  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion. The  erection  and  repairing  of  school  buildings,  etc.,  were 
entrusted  to  the  latter  Board.  The  Superintendent  of  School 
Buildings  was  the  official  in  immediate  charge  of  this  branch  of 
work,  the  preparation  of  plans,  supervision  of  construction,  and 
the  like. 

A  new  officer  created  by  the  Charter  was  the  Superintendent 
of  School  Supplies,  whose  duty  it  was  to  look  after  the  purchase 
of  school  books,  fuel,  and  all  other  supplies,  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  same  to  the  schools  in  all  parts  of  the  city.  It  was 
provided  that  all  supplies,  as  far  as  possible,  should  be  procured 
by  contract. 

The  provision  of  the  Charter  in  reference  to  the  salaries  of 
teachers  was  as  follows  : 

"  Each  school  board  shall  have  power  to  adopt  by-laws  fixing  the  salaries 
of  the  borough  and  associate  superintendents,  of  principals  and  branch  princi- 
pals, and  of  all  other  members  of  the  supervising  and  teaching  staff,  and  such 
salaries  shall  be  regulated  by  merit,  by  the  grade  of  class  taught,  by  the  length 
of  service,  or  by  the  experience  in  teaching  of  the  incumbent  in  charge,  or  by 
such  a  combination  of  these  considerations  as  the  school  board  may  deem 
proper.  Said  salaries  need  not  be  uniform  throughout  all  the  several  boroughs, 
nor  in  any  two  of  them,  nor  throughout  any  one  borough." 

The  School  Boards  were  empowered  to  establish  kinder- 
gartens, manual  training  schools,  trades  schools,  truant  schools, 
evening  schools  and  schools  for  colored  pupils,  high  schools  and 


The  Consolidation  of  1898  277 

training  schools,  and  special  classes  for  instruction  in  the  Eng- 
lish language ;  and  also  to  maintain  free  lectures  for  working 
men  and  working  women. 

The  Charter  provided  for  two  educational  funds  :  the  Special 
School  Fund,  to  consist  of  all  moneys  raised  for  the  purchase 
of  school  sites,  for  the  erection  and  repair  of  buildings,  for  the 
purchase  and  leasing  of  educational  and  school  buildings,  for 
the  purchase  of  all  school  supplies,  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Nautical  School,  and  for  the  administrative  purposes  of  the 
Board  of  Education ;  and  the  General  School  Fund,  to  contain 
and  embrace  all  items  not  comprised  in  the  Special  School 
Fund.  The  Special  School  Fund  was  administered  by  the 
Board  of  Education.  The  General  School  Fund  was  adminis- 
tered by  the  School  Boards,  and  was  apportioned  among  them 
by  the  Board  of  Education  on  the  basis  (i)  of  one  hundred 
dollars  for  every  qualified  teacher  engaged  in  teaching  and  (2)  of 
the  number  of  teachers  employed  and  the  aggregate  number 
of  days  of  attendance  of  pupils.  The  Charter  thus  gave  the 
School  Boards  control  over  the  General  School  Fund,  but  this 
control  was  hardly  more  than  nominal,  as  another  section  pro- 
vided that  charges  against  both  funds  should  be  paid  only  on 
the  certificate  of  the  Auditor  of  the  Board  of  Education.  The 
Board  of  Education  also  had  power  to  revise  the  estimates  of 
moneys  required  for  school  purposes,  as  prepared  by  the  School 
Boards,  and  made  up  the  departmental  estimate  to  be  submitted 
to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment. 

The  power  of  removing  teachers  on  charges,  and  after  trial, 
was  lodged  with  the  School  Boards.  The  Borough  Superintend- 
ents were  authorized  to  enforce  the  Compulsory  Education 
Law,  and  to  nominate  attendance  officers  to  the  respective 
School  Boards. 

Power  was  given  to  the  School  Boards  to  create  school 
inspection  districts,  for  each  of  which  the  Mayor  was  authorized 
to  appoint  five  Inspectors,  who  were  charged  with  the  duty  of 
visiting  and  inspecting  schools  and  reporting  thereon  to  the 


278  The  New  York  Public  School 

School  Board.  This  power  was  exercised  only  by  the  School 
Board  for  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx :  the  Inspectors  proved 
to  have  little  actual  authority,  as  they  could  only  make  recom- 
mendations, but  had  no  power  to  enforce  them. 

The  law  in  reference  to  the  retirement  of  teachers  in  force 
in  the  former  city  of  New  York  was  re-enacted  by  the  Charter, 
and  extended  to  the  Boroughs  of  Queens  and  Richmond,  while 
the  Retirement  Fund  in  Brooklyn,  created  by  Chapter  656 
of  the  laws  of  1895  (see  Chapter  XXVII),  was  continued  under 
the  control  of  the  Brooklyn  School  Board.  The  Nautical 
School  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
was  the  only  school  in  the  city  under  its  immediate  jurisdiction. 
The  provisions  of  various  statutes  in  reference  to  the  corporate 
schools  were  re-enacted.  The  Board  of  Education  was  given 
control  over  the  College  of  The  City  of  New  York  and  the 
Normal  College,  and  was  made  a  Board  of  Trustees  for  each, 
in  conjunction  with  the  President  of  the  college  in  each  case. 

The  purpose  of  the  framers  of  the  Charter  in  planning  their 
educational  scheme  can  be  best  set  forth  in  their  own  words : 
"  In  the  matter  of  education,  the  Committee  have  adopted  a 
plan  which  centralizes  in  a  Board  of  Education,  representing 
the  whole  city,  the  physical  conduct  of  the  schools,  and  which 
devolves  upon  School  Boards  appointed  by  the  Mayor  in  every 
Borough  the  educational  conduct  of  the  schools.  This  will 
enable  each  Borough  to  express  in  the  conduct  of  its  schools 
what  is  natural  and  best  in  its  own  life,  while  it  secures  for  the 
city  as  a  whole  the  benefits  of  administration  from  the  centre  as 
to  all  work  which  can  be  best  done  in  that  way.  Powers  are 
given  to  the  Board  of  Education  which  are  believed  to  be  suffi- 
cient to  secure  a  uniform  financial  system  throughout  the 
Boroughs  and  a  system  of  efficient  educational  oversight.  In 
the  mean  while,  both  the  central  Board  of  Education  and  the 
School  Boards  of  the  Boroughs  are  each  supreme  in  the  field 
actually  committed  to  their  care." 

Several   important  amendments  were  made  to  the  Charter 


The  Consolidation  of  1898  279 

in  1898,  1899,  and  1900.  During  the  first  year  it  was  in  opera- 
tion two  amendatory  acts  were  passed.  The  first  (Chapter  91 
of  the  laws  of  1898)  provided  that  five  per  cent,  of  the  excise 
moneys  collected  in  the  city  should  be  paid  into  the  Teachers' 
Retirement  Fund,  and  apportioned  by  the  Board  of  Education 
among  the  Boroughs  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  teachers 
employed  in  each  and  the  amount  of  salaries  paid  to  them. 
The  Retirement  Fund  theretofore  had  been  made  up  exclu- 
sively of  sums  deducted  from  teachers'  salaries  (except  in 
Brooklyn);  this  enactment  increased  the  fund  very  largely,1 
and  permitted  the  retirement  of  many  incapacitated  teachers  in 
that  and  following  years. 

The  second  of  the  amendments  just  mentioned  was  contained 
in  Chapter  652  of  the  laws  of  1898  ;  it  provided  that  school  build- 
ings in  the  city  might  be  used  not  only  for  educational  purposes, 
but  also  for  "  recreation  and  other  public  uses."  This  opened 
the  way  for  the  vacation  schools,  etc.,  which  soon  became  a 
notable  feature  of  the  educational  work. 

The  Legislature  of  1899  enacted  a  law  (Chapter  417),  known 
as  the  Ahearn  Law,  in  reference  to  the  salaries  of  teachers,  which 
is  noteworthy  as  the  first  attempt  to  regulate  teachers'  salaries  in 
New  York  City  by  statute.  While  retaining  in  the  School  Boards 
the  power  to  fix  salaries,  it  provided  that  no  regular  teacher  should 
receive  less  than  $600  per  annum ;  that  no  teacher  after  ten  years' 
service  should  receive  less  than  $900,  nor  after  fifteen  years'  ser- 
vice less  than  $1200;  that  no  vice-principal,  head  of  department, 
or  first  assistant  should  receive  less  than  $1400 ;  and  that  no  male 
teacher  after  twelve  years  of  service  should  receive  less  than 
$2160.  These  salaries  were  made  conditional  upon  the  approval 
of  the  service  of  the  teacher  as  "  fit  and  meritorious "  by  a 
majority  of  the  appropriate  Borough  Board  of  School  Superin- 
tendents. It  was  also  provided  that  the  salaries  of  principals 
should  be  increased  $250  each  year  until  a  maximum  of  $2500 

1  The  excise  moneys  for  1898  amounted  to  $269,094.83;  for  1899  to  #266,859.37; 
for  1900  to  $265,853.17. 


280  The  New  York  Public  School 

was  reached  in  the  case  of  women,  and  of  $3500  in  the  case  of 
men,  and  that  a  woman  principal  after  ten  years'  service  should 
receive  not  less  than  $2500,  and  a  male  principal  after  like  ser- 
vice not  less  than  $3500:  these  provisions  were  not  to  apply  to 
principals  of  schools  containing  less  than  twelve  classes.  The 
Ahearn  Law  was  passed  April  25,  1899,  and  took  effect  at  once, 
the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  being  authorized 
and  required  to  issue  special  revenue  bonds  to  provide  for  the 
increased  salaries. 

The  Ahearn  Law  paved  the  way  for  a  more  important  enact- 
ment in  the  following  year,  when  the  Davis  Law  (Chapter  751 
of  the  laws  of  1900)  was  passed.  This  law  authorized  the  Board 
of  Education  to  adopt  by-laws  providing  for  uniform  schedules  of 
salaries  for  all  members  of  the  teaching  and  supervising  staff 
throughout  all  Boroughs ;  fixed  the  minimum  rates  to  be  paid 
to  teachers  in  elementary,  high,  and  training  schools  at  various 
stages  of  experience,  and  provided  for  the  ascertainment  of  the 
fitness  and  merit  of  teachers  at  specified  intervals  of  time.1  It 
provided  a  more  equitable  plan  for  distributing  the  General 
School  Fund  among  the  Boroughs  than  was  contained  in  the 
original  Charter,  the  quota  for  each  qualified  teacher  being  made 
$600  instead  of  $100.  It  further  provided  that  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment  should  appropriate  annually  for  the 
General  School  Fund  (consisting  "of  all  moneys  raised  for  the 
payment  of  salaries  of  the  borough  and  associate  superintendents 
and  all  members  of  the  supervising  and  teaching  staff,  throughout 
all  boroughs  ")  "  an  amount  equivalent  to  not  less  than  four  mills 
on  every  dollar  of  assessed  valuation  of  the  real  and  personal 
estate  in  The  City  of  New  York,  liable  to  taxation,  inclusive  of 
so  much  of  the  state  school  moneys  apportioned  by  the  superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction  for  the  payment  of  teachers'  wages 
as  is  actually  paid  into  the  said  general  school  fund."  The  Davis 

1  The  salary  provisions  of  the  Davis  Law  were  embodied  in  the  Revised  Charter 
passed  in  1901.  The  salary  schedules  adopted  in  pursuance  thereof,  as  since 
amended  and  now  in  force,  will  be  found  in  Appendix  V. 


DE  WITT   CLINTON    HIGH   SCHOOL  — BOROUGH  OF  MANHATTAN 


PUBLIC   SCHOOL   62— BOROUGH   OF   MANHATTAN 
Cost  (including  site),  nearly  $1,300,000 


The  Consolidation  of  1898  281 

Law  made  another  radical  change  in  the  Charter,  giving  the 
Board  of  Education  full  control  over  its  own  finances,  by  the 
following  provision,  the  words  italicized  being  added : 

"  The  board  of  education  shall  have  power  to  take  and  receive,  and  shall 
take  and  receive,  all  moneys  appropriated  or  available  for  educational  purposes 
in  The  City  of  New  York,  which  moneys  shall  be  paid  over  to  said  board  by  the 
comptroller  on  the  request  of  said  board  from  time  to  time  in  such  sums  as 
shall  be  required,  and  the  auditor  of  said  board  shall  transmit  to  the  depart- 
ment of  finance  each  month  duplicate  vouchers  for  the  payment  of  all  sums  of 
money  made  on  account  of  the  department  of  education  each  month? 

The  so-called  Davis  Bill  was  opposed  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, while  pending  in  the  Legislature  and  when  the  statutory 
hearing  was  given  by  the  Mayor  (Robert  A.  Van  Wyck).  It 
was  vetoed  by  him,  but,  nevertheless,  became  a  law,  thus  impos- 
ing a  large  burden  of  responsibility  upon  the  Board  of  Education 
in  the  disbursement  of  moneys  amounting  to  upwards  of  twenty 
million  dollars  annually.  The  bill  was  signed  by  the  Governor 
May  3d  (1900),  and  it  became  the  duty  of  the  Board  immediately 
to  establish  a  treasurer's  office,  in  order  that  teachers'  salaries  and 
other  claims  might  be  promptly  paid.  A  Treasurer  was  elected 
and  a  disbursing  bureau  opened  on  the  I2th  of  May,  and  little 
delay  in  payments  occurred.  As  quickly  as  possible,  salary 
schedules  based  on  the  new  law  were  adopted  by  the  Board  of 
Education.  The  law  required  that  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment  should  provide,  by  means  of  special  revenue 
bonds,  the  money  necessary  for  the  payment  of  the  increased 
salaries. 

"  No  measure  regarding  teachers1  salaries,  so  sweeping  and  so  liberal  in 
its  provisions,  was  ever  before  passed  by  any  Legislature.  Not  unnaturally, 
therefore,  it  may  be  inferred  that  there  must  have  been  something  extraordi- 
nary in  the  local  conditions  to  call  for  the  enactment  of  this  statute  by  the 
Legislature  and  the  Governor  —  in  spite  of  the  veto  of  the  Mayor  and  the 
strenuous  opposition  of  the  Comptroller,  and  in  opposition  to  the  majority  of 
the  members  of  the  School  Boards  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx,  and  of 
Brooklyn.  Such  indeed  was  the  case.  Stated  briefly,  the  most  obvious  reason 
why  the  teachers  bad  the  support  of  the  press  and  the  public  and  the  sympa- 


282  The  New  York  Public  School 

thy  and  co-operation  of  the  Governor  was  that  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment  had  failed  to  provide  the  funds  necessary  to  carry  into  full 
effect  a  comparatively  mild  measure  regarding  teachers'  salaries  which  the 
Legislature  had  passed  in  1899  [the  AhearnLaw] .  This  statement  is  the  exact 
truth,  and  it  was  this  truth  that  appealed  so  strongly  to  the  press,  the  public, 
and  the  legislative  authorities.  But  there  was  much  more  than  this  immediate 
cause  that  had  a  profound  influence  in  urging  the  teachers  to  action  and  in 
determining  the  trend  of  public  opinion.  A  brief  history  of  teachers'  salaries 
in  the  several  boroughs  will  not,  therefore,  be  out  of  place. 

"In,  the  City  of  New  York,  prior  to  consolidation,  a  schedule  of  salaries, 
complex  in  its  arrangements  almost  beyond  description,  had  been  in  force. 
Under  this  schedule,  a  teacher's  salary  depended  partly  on  the  grade  of  the 
school,  partly  on  the  grade  of  class  taught,  and  partly  on  order  of  appointment. 
The  following  statement  presents  a  general  view  of  the  extremes  of  salaries 
paid  to  women  in  various  grades  of  schools : 

LOWEST  CLASS          HIGHEST  CLASS 

Male  grammar  schools,  from     ....     $633        to         $1116 
Mixed      "  "  "        ....      603         "  1086 

Female     «  "  "        .     .     .     .      573         «  1056 

Primary  schools  and  Departments  from        504         "  900 

"  As  a  general  rule  it  may  be  said  that  a  teacher,  no  matter  what  the 
character  of  her  work,  could  obtain  an  advance  in  salary  only  in  two  ways  — 
by  transfer  from  a  primary  school  to  a  grammar  school,  or  through  the  death, 
resignation,  or  transfer  of  a  teacher  who  had  been  appointed  at  an  earlier 
date.  .  .  . 

"In  1897  the  New  York  Board  of  Education  came  to  realize  the  absurdi- 
ties and  injustices  of  the  system  of  paying  teachers,  and  made  many  honest 
and  strenuous  efforts  to  remedy  abuses  by  adopting  new  salary  schedules. 
Every  one  of  these  efforts  was  rendered  abortive  by  the  failure  of  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment  to  provide  the  funds  necessary  to  carry  the  re- 
vised schedules  into  effect.  Even  the  attempt  of  the  Legislature  in  1899, 
known  as  the  Ahearn  Law,  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot  was  nullified  in  the  same 
way  —  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment .  did  not  supply  sufficient 
money.  Indeed,  that  statute  rather  aggravated  than  allayed  the  unrest  among 
the  teachers,  because,  while  it  gave  increased  salaries  to  a  few  teachers,  that 
very  fact  prevented  any  increase  in  the  case  of  the  majority,  while  in  hundreds 
of  instances  it  was  the  direct  cause  of  reducing  salaries. 

"  In  Queens  and  Richmond,  the  salary  question  at  the  time  of  consolida- 
tion appeared  to  be  in  an  almost  hopeless  muddle.  In  the  territory  now  em- 
braced in  the  Borough  of  Queens  there  were  before  consolidation  as  many  as 
sixty-seven  separate  and  independent  school  boards  or  boards  of  trustees.  In 


The  Consolidation  of  1898  283 

the  Borough  of  Richmond  there  were  nineteen.  All  of  these  different  boards 
paid  different  rates  of  salary  to  their  teachers.  .  .  .  Even  after  consolidation 
no  attempt  was  immediately  made  to  adopt  uniform  salary  schedules  in  these 
two  boroughs,  except  to  raise  the  minimum  salary  to  $600  per  annum  and  to 
correct  some  of  the  more  flagrant  cases  of  inequality.  Then  came  the  Ahearn 
Law  in  1899,  ...  To  the  great  body  of  the  teachers  in  Queens  and  Richmond 
this  measure  was  most  disastrous,  because,  with  the  limited  amount  of  money 
at  the  disposal  of  the  school  boards,  they  were  obliged  to  cut  down  the  sala- 
ries of  those  teachers  who  were  not  protected  by  law  in  order  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  those  teachers  who  were  so  protected.  .  .  . 

"  In  Brooklyn  the  situation  was  somewhat  different  from  that  found  in  the 
other  boroughs,  but  the  feeling  of  discontent  among  the  teachers,  arising  from 
similar  causes,  was  equally  profound. 

"  For  many  years  prior  to  the  agitation  that  commenced  in  1897  for  a  re- 
vision of  the  salary  schedules,  there  had  been  gradually  taking  shape  in  the 
minds  of  the  teachers  certain  notions  that  were  the  direct  result  of  the  condi- 
tions and  events  just  described. 

"  In  a  word,  the  teachers  felt  that  the  old  salary  system  was  one  under 
which  they  could  not  do  their  best  work,  that  it  was  retarding  the  progress  of 
the  school  system,  and  that  the  first  condition  of  a  genuine  educational  revival 
is  to  place  salaries  not  merely  on  a  liberal,  but  on  a  rational  basis."  * 

1  Annual  Report  of  City  Superintendent  of  Schools,  1900,  pp.  59-66. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 


THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK  — 1898  TO  1901 

AT  the  date  of  consolidation,  in  1898,  the  school  organiza- 
tions in  the  several  Boroughs  were  as  follows  : 

MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX:  High  schools,  3;  grammar 
departments  —  for  boys,  36;  for  girls,  38;  for  boys  and  girls, 
1 1  ;  f  ourteen-grade  schools  (grammar  and  primary  grades)  — 
with  grammar  grades  for  boys  only,  13;  for  girls  only,  11  ;  for 
boys  and  girls,  16;  primary  departments,  66;  primary  schools 
(separate),  49  —  making  a  total  of  243.  There  was  also  a 
truant  school.  Thirty-four  evening  schools  (including  four 
evening  high  schools)  were  maintained.  There  were  forty- 
eight  so-called  corporate  schools  (industrial  schools,  reforma- 
tories, orphan  asylums,  and  the  like),  receiving  a  share  of  the 
public  school  funds  and  subject  to  the  supervision  of  the  public 
school  authorities.  The  number  of  school  buildings  was  1 70,  there 
being  in  many  cases  two  or  even  three  distinct  school  organi- 
zations, or  departments,  each  having  its  own  principal,  in  one 
building. 

BROOKLYN  :  Training  school  for  teachers,  i ;  high  schools, 
4  (including  one  Manual  Training  High  School);  grammar 
schools,  43  ;  independent  intermediate  schools,  22  ;  independent 
primary  schools,  2;  branch  intermediate  schools,  16 ;  branch 
primary  schools,  27;  annexes,  4  —  a  total  of  119,  besides  a 
truant  school.  Each  of  the  schools  enumerated  had  a  separate 
building.  An  intermediate  school  covered  six  years  of  the 
elementary  course  of  eight  years.  A  branch  school  was  under 
the  supervision  of  the  principal  of  a  neighboring  grammar 
school.  In  this  Borough  there  were  eleven  corporate  schools. 

284 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1898  to  1901        285 

QUEENS  :  In  Long  Island  City  there  were  ten  schools,  in- 
cluding one  high  school;  in  the  town  of  Newtown  fourteen 
school  districts,  with  seventeen  schools,  in  two  of  which  high 
school  departments  were  conducted ;  in  the  town  of  Flushing 
seven  school  districts  and  thirteen  schools,  with  one  high  school 
department ;  in  the  town  of  Jamaica  eleven  school  districts  and 
twenty-three  schools,  with  two  high  school  departments ;  in  the 
town  of  Hempstead  three  school  districts  and  six  schools,  with 
one  high  school  department. 

RICHMOND  :  In  the  Borough  of  Richmond  there  were 
twenty-nine  school  districts,  each  containing  one  school, 
eighteen  of  the  schools  being  graded  and  eleven  ungraded. 
There  were  three  high  school  departments  —  one  at  Totten- 
ville,  in  the  town  of  Westfield ;  one  at  Stapleton,  in  the  town 
of  Middletown;  and  one  at  Port  Richmond,  in  the  town  of 
Northfield. 

The  Boards  of  Education  for  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  as 
such,  ceased  to  exist,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the 
Charter,  on  February  i,  1898,  and  became,  respectively,  the 
School  Board  for  the  Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx 
and  the  School  Board  for  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn.  In  the 
month  of  January  School  Boards  for  Queens  and  Richmond, 
each  consisting  of  nine  members,  were  appointed  by  the  Mayor. 
Delegates  to  the  Board  of  Education  were  elected  on  February 
9th  by  the  School  Boards  for  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  and 
Brooklyn,  and  on  February  2ist  the  new  "Central  Board," 
consisting  of  nineteen  members  (eleven  for  Manhattan  and 
The  Bronx,  six  for  Brooklyn,  and  one  each  for  the  two  re- 
maining Boroughs),  was  organized.  Some  confusion  was 
caused  at  the  outset  by  a  provision  of  the  Charter  that  the 
"  new  system  for  the  administration  of  the  public  schools  of  the 
city"  should  "go  into  full  effect  on  July  first,  1898."  How- 
ever, a  reasonable  construction  of  this  provision  was  allowed, 
and  the  new  Board  entered  on  its  work  promptly,  electing  its 
staff  of  officials,  making  necessary  financial  arrangements,  etc. 


286  The  New  York  Public  School 

Owing  to  the  straitened  condition  of  the  city  treasury 
immediately  after  consolidation,  no  funds  were  available  for 
school  sites  and  new  buildings,  and  work  in  this  direction  was 
at  a  standstill  for  more  than  a  year,  except  such  as  was  required 
in  connection  with  contracts  entered  into  before  February  i, 
1898.  In  some  parts  of  the  Borough  of  Queens  contracts  for 
school  buildings  had  been  freely,  not  to  say  recklessly,  made 
by  the  school  officials  shortly  before  the  local  governments  came 
to  an  end,  and  the  Board  of  Education  was  involved  in  serious 
trouble,  extending  through  two  or  three  years,  in  securing  the 
completion  of  these  contracts.  Some  of  the  schoolhouses  built  in 
this  way  were  unnecessary,  and  were  not  used  for  several  years. 

The  first  contract  for  a  new  school  building  after  consolida- 
tion was  awarded  on  the  2Oth  of  February,  1899.  During  that 
year  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $7,673,640  were  authorized  for 
school  buildings  and  sites;  for  1900  the  bond  issues  amounted 
to  $3,500,000,  and  for  1901  to  $3,700,000,  making  a  total  for 
four  years  (counting  1898,  in  which  no  bonds  were  authorized) 
of  $14,873,640.  This  amount,  it  may  be  noted,  was  much 
smaller  than  the  sums  asked  for  by  the  Board  of  Education 
during  this  period. 

With  the  resources  provided,  the  work  of  increasing  school 
accommodations  proceeded  as  rapidly  as  possible.  During  the 
school  year  ended  July  31,  1899,  nineteen  new  schoolhouses 
were  opened,  containing  388  classrooms  and  seats  for  18,077 
pupils.  In  the  following  school  year  fifteen  new  buildings  and 
a  number  of  additions  were  made  ready  for  use,  adding  456 
classrooms  and  20,220  sittings.  In  1900-1901  nineteen  new 
buildings  and  eight  additions  furnished  596  classrooms,  contain- 
ing 27,491  seats.  Nevertheless,  the  accommodations  provided 
by  no  means  kept  abreast  of  the  demand,  and  in  the  most 
crowded  neighborhoods  in  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn,  and  to 
some  extent  in  Queens,  resort  was  had  to  part-time  and  half- 
time  classes.  In  1899-1900  the  number  of  children  on  part- 
time  was:  Manhattan,  12,852;  Brooklyn,  32,116;  Queens, 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1898  to  1901        287 

3312.  In  1900-1901:  Manhattan,  13,749;  Brooklyn,  36,216; 
Queens,  2356.  In  Brooklyn  it  became  necessary  to  employ  the 
part-time  plan  in  the  high  schools,  and  1150  children  were  so 
instructed  in  the  school  year  1900-1901. 

A  step  of  unusual  importance  was  taken  in  1898,  when  the 
Manhattan-Bronx  School  Board  decided  to  establish  the  New 
York  Training  School  for  Teachers.  It  was  opened  in  Septem- 
ber of  that  year,  in  Public  School  159,  with  a  course  of  study 
covering  two  years. 

While  there  was  no  increase  in  the  number  of  high  schools 
in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  from  1898  to  1901,  the  high  school 
attendance  increased  very  rapidly,  and  provision  had  to  be  made 
for  each  of  the  schools  in  several  different  buildings.  Contracts 
were  entered  into  for  buildings  for  the  Wadleigh  and  Morris 
High  Schools  (the  latter  called  the  Peter  Cooper  up  to  1902)  on 
sites  selected  in  1897 ;  they  were  not  completed  until  after  the 
change  in  the  educational  system  which  occurred  early  in  1902. 
A  building  was  also  begun  in  West  Sixty-fifth  street  for  a  High 
School  of  Commerce,  but  this  school  was  not  organized  until 
September,  1902.  In  Brooklyn  two  additional  high  schools  were 
established  in  1899:  the  commercial  department  of  the  Boys' 
High  School  was  converted  into  the  Commercial  High  School, 
which  was  housed  in  the  old  building  of  Public  School  3  ;  and 
the  Eastern  District  High  School  was  organized  in  the  building 
long  used  for  the  Eastern  District  Library. 

A  most  interesting  feature  of  the  period  we  are  now  con- 
sidering was  the  enlarged  use  of  school  buildings  which  began 
under  the  direction  of  the  school  authorities  with  the  establish- 
ment of  vacation  schools  and  vacation  playgrounds  in  1898. 
For  four  years  preceding  the  New  York  Association  for  Im- 
proving the  Condition  of  the  Poor  had  maintained  a  number  of 
vacation  schools  in  public  school  buildings.  The  establishment 
of  such  schools  as  a  part  of  the  city's  educational  system  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  the 
former  city  of  New  York  in  May,  1897,  by  the  Board  of 


288  The  New  York  Public  School 

Superintendents,  but  no  funds  were  available  for  the  purpose 
until  the  following  year.  In  July,  1898,  ten  vacation  schools 
and  twenty-four  vacation  playgrounds  were  opened,  the  former 
remaining  in  operation  for  six  weeks  and  some  of  the  latter  for 
eight  weeks.  In  the  vacation  schools  kindergarten  classes  were 
conducted  for  the  little  ones,  and  older  children  were  taught 
nature  study,  drawing,  painting,  music,  toy-making,  joinery, 
wood-carving,  cane-weaving,  bent-iron  work,  cooking,  millinery, 
knitting,  crocheting,  sewing,  woodwork,  etc.,  etc.  Each  of  the 
playgrounds  was  provided  with  a  kindergartner  to  direct  the 
play  of  the  smaller  children,  and  with  gymnasium  and  other 
instructors  for  the  older.  Open-air  and  roof  playgrounds  were 
also  established,  and  similar  work  was  carried  on  at  recreation 
piers  and  swimming  baths.  In  connection  with  the  summer 
work  the  pupils  were  taken  on  a  number  of  excursions  by  land 
and  water. 

The  vacation  schools  and  playgrounds  were  followed  the 
next  year  by  the  recreation  centres  (at  first  called  play  centres), 
which  were  maintained  throughout  the  year,  from  7  to  10  P.M., 
the  principal  object  being  play  and  healthful  recreation  for  boys 
and  girls  obliged  to  work  during  the  day.  The  general  plan 
was  to  divide  the  playground  floor  of  a  school  building  by  slid- 
ing doors,  setting  aside  one  part  for  gymnasium  work,  basket 
ball,  and  other  games  of  that  character,  and  reserving  a  room 
for  quiet  games,  reading,  etc.  The  formation  of  boys'  and  girls' 
clubs  was  encouraged,  and  also  clubs  composed  of  adults,  moth- 
ers' clubs,  and  the  like. 

The  success  of  these  new  educational  activities  was  at  once 
assured.  The  total  average  attendance  at  the  vacation  schools 
in  1898  was  4072,  and  it  was  estimated  that  at  least  30,000 
children  made  use  of  the  playgrounds.  The  cost  of  the  work 
in  1898  was  $27,598.68;  in  1899,  $47,110.70.  In  1899  vacation 
schools  and  playgrounds  were  established  in  Brooklyn.  The 
following  table  gives  statistics  of  the  vacation  schools  for  three 
years : 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1898  to  1901        289 


MANHATTAN 


NUMBER  OF  SCHOOLS 

TOTAL  ENROLLMENT 

AVERAGE  ATTENDANCE 

1899 

10 

9243 

4434 

1900 
1901 

10 

16 

11,120 
IS4I3 

4921 
5884 

BROOKLYN 


1899 

5 

4406 

1609 

1900 

ii 

6712 

3210 

1901 

12 

7892 

4180 

The  City  Superintendent's  report  for  1901  showed  that 
there  were  in  operation  in  Manhattan  twenty-seven  all-day 
playgrounds  in  school  buildings,  fifteen  afternoon  playgrounds 
in  buildings  occupied  by  vacation  schools  in  the  forenoon,  eight 
evening  play  centres,  four  outdoor  gymnasiums,  eight  open-air 
playgrounds,  six  recreation  piers,  three  Central  Park  play- 
grounds, two  roof  kindergartens,  and  thirteen  swimming  baths. 
The  average  attendance  was  as  follows : 

All-day  playgrounds 20,350 

Afternoon  playgrounds 12,150 

Evening  play  centres  .......  675 

Outdoor  gymnasiums 3,600 

Recreation  piers I?3I5 

Open-air  playgrounds 2,605 

Roof  kindergartens      .....••          2,565 

Swimming  baths 880 

44,140 

In  Brooklyn  the  average  attendance  at  eighteen  playgrounds 
for  the  same  season  was  10,367. 

The  free  lectures  instituted  by  the  New  York  Board  of  Edu- 
cation in  1889  were  continued  with  a  constantly  increasing 
attendance,  a  larger  number  of  lectures,  and  more  lecture  centres 
from  year  to  year.  Under  the  new  regime  the  system  was  ex- 
tended to  Queens  and  Richmond  in  1899;  and  finally,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1901,  lectures  were  given  in  Brooklyn  for  the  first  time. 


290 


The  New  York  Public  School 
FREE  LECTURES,  1900-1901 


NUMBER  OF 
CENTRES 

NUMBER  OF 
LECTURES 

TOTAL 
ATTENDANCE 

Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  .... 
Brooklyn  .......... 

52 

16 

1963 

222 

553^58 
112  AAA 

Queens      •         

17 

121 

•37  272 

Richmond.                                            . 

10  681 

Evening  schools  were  conducted  by  all  the  Borough  School 
Boards  for  terms  of  varying  length.  By  1901  the  number  of 
evening  high  schools  in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  had  risen  to 
six ;  in  Brooklyn  the  two  previously  mentioned  were  continued. 
The  number  of  evening  schools  and  the  average  attendance 
(including  evening  high  schools)  for  1900-1901  was  as  follows: 


SCHOOLS 

TOTAL 
ENROLLMENT 

AVERAGE 
ATTENDANCE 

Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  .     . 

39  (6  high) 
1  6  (2  high) 

50.747 
12  Q^6 

16,380 
A2QI 

Queens     

i"2. 

I  CQQ 

q-frv^* 

6co 

Richmond     .     •     •     •     . 

^jyy 
21Q 

*oy 

IOQ 

*"jry 

ivy 

Kindergarten  classes,  which  had  been  started  in  a  tentative 
way  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  a  few  years  before  consolida- 
tion, had  now  become  a  recognized  and  indispensable  part  of 
the  educational  work,  and  were  carried  on  in  all  the  Boroughs 
from  the  time  Greater  New  York  came  into  existence.  Special 
supervisors  or  directors  of  kindergarten  work  were  employed 
by  all  the  Borough  School  Boards,  except  in  Richmond.  In 
1901  the  number  of  kindergarten  classes  in  the  city  was  169. 

Immediately  after  the  new  educational  system  was  established 
it  became  necessary  for  the  School  Boards  in  Queens  and  Rich- 
mond to  adopt  uniform  courses  of  study  for  the  schools  under 
their  care.  In  doing  so  they  both  took  as  their  pattern  the 
course  prevailing  in  Brooklyn,  covering  eight  years.  The  course 


The  City  of  New  York — 1898  to  1901        291 

of  study  in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx,  embracing  seven  years  of 
work,  was  continued  in  those  Boroughs. 

The  Charter  empowered  the  School  Boards  to  appoint  one 
Associate  Borough  Superintendent  for  the  first  seven  hundred 
teachers  in  the  schools  under  their  charge,  and  one  additional 
Associate  for  every  additional  three  hundred  and  fifty  teachers. 
In  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  there  were  already  fifteen  Associ- 
ate Superintendents  ;  this  number  was  increased  by  one  in  1899. 
In  Brooklyn,  where  there  were  only  two  Associates  in  1897, 
a  very  great  increase  occurred,  there  being  no  less  than  ten 
by  1901.  In  Queens,  and  also  in  Richmond,  two  Associate 
Superintendents  were  appointed,  as  provided  by  the  Charter. 

In  1899  an  important  by-law  was  passed  by  the  Manhattan- 
Bronx  School  Board,  requiring  the  Borough  Board  of  Superin- 
tendents to  nominate  teachers  in  the  order  of  their  standing  on 
the  eligible  lists,  and  to  exhaust  one  eligible  list  before  proceed- 
ing to  the  next  in  chronological  order.  This  was  hailed  by  the 
City  Superintendent  in  his  annual  report  for  1900  as  having 
taken  the  appointment  and  promotion  of  teachers  "  out  of  poli- 
tics," placing  them  "on  a  merit  basis." 

The  Nautical  School,  which,  as  has  been  told,  was  the  only 
school  under  the  immediate  control  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
was  continued  in  the  usual  manner,  with  the  exception  that  in 
1898  the  customary  summer  cruise  to  European  ports  was 
omitted.  In  that  year  the  naval  officers  assigned  to  duty  as 
Superintendent  and  instructors  were  detached,  owing  to  the  war 
with  Spain,  and  other  arrangements  were  made  by  the  Board  of 
Education  to  meet  the  emergency. 

The  year  1900  witnessed  the  completion  of  the  commodious 
new  Hall  of  the  Board  of  Education,  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Park  avenue  and  Fifty-ninth  street.  This  replaced  the  old  Hall, 
erected  by  the  Public  School  Society  in  1839-1840,  which  had 
long  been  inadequate  for  the  purposes  of  the  Department. 
Means  for  the  building  of  the  new  Hall  were  provided  by  Chapter 
252  of  the  laws  of  1889.  The  site  was  purchased  in  1890,  and 


292  The  New  York  P^tbl^c  School 

plans  for  the  building  were  accepted  in  1892.  Then  a  prolonged 
delay  occurred,  owing  to  lack  of  funds.  The  contract  for  the 
building  was  at  length  awarded  in  1897,  in  the  sum  of  $244,900, 
and  a  contract  for  the  completion  and  fitting  up  of  the  building 
was  awarded  in  1899,  in  the  amount  of  $153,302.50.  The 
Grand  street  building  was  abandoned  in  February,  1900,  and  on 
the  22d  of  that  month  formal  opening  exercises  were  held  in 
the  assembly  room  in  the  new  Hall.  Addresses  were  delivered 
by  Dr.  William  T.  Harris,  United  States  Commissioner  of 
Education  ;  Mr.  Charles  R.  Skinner,  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction  ;  Mr.  Charles  H.  Knox,  a  former  President 
of  the  Board  of  Education  ;  and  City  Superintendent  William  H. 
Maxwell.  The  building  was  transferred  to  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion by  Mr.  Richard  H.  Adams,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Buildings,  and  accepted,  on  behalf  of  the  Board,  by  President 
Joseph  J.  Little.  It  was  accepted  on  behalf  of  the  City  by  Mr. 
Randolph  Guggenheimer,  President  of  the  Municipal  Council. 

An  incident  of  interest  in  connection  with  schools  for  colored 
children  occurred  in  1898  and  1899  in  the  Borough  of  Queens. 
When  the  School  Board  for  that  Borough  was  established,  two 
colored  schools  were  in  existence,  one  in  Flushing  and  one  in 
Jamaica.  In  the  latter  village  there  had  been  trouble  for  some 
time,  a  man  named  Cisco  having  refused  to  send  his  children  to 
the  colored  school.  Other  colored  men  followed  his  example, 
and  it  became  impossible  to  enforce  the  Compulsory  Education 
Law  in  the  case  of  fifteen  or  sixteen  colored  children.  Mrs.  Cisco 
then  sought  a  writ  of  mandamus  compelling  the  school  authorities 
to  admit  her  children  to  one  of  the  schools  for  white  children. 
All  the  courts,  including  the  Court  of  Appeals,  upheld  the 
establishment  of  colored  schools  and  sustained  the  school  officials 
in  assigning  the  children  mentioned  to  such  a  school.  The  con- 
troversy at  Jamaica  led,  in  1900,  to  the  passage  of  a  law,  upon 
the  initiative  of  Governor  Roosevelt,  amending  the  Consolidated 
School  Law  of  the  State  and  abolishing  colored  schools.  The 
two  schools  here  referred  to,  it  is  believed,  were  the  last  colored 


Tlie  City  of  New  York  — 1898  to  1901        293 


schools  maintained  in  the  State,  with  the  exception  of  one  at 
Hempstead,  L.  I. 

COMPARISON,  SCHOOL  YEAR  1898-1899 T  —  SCHOOL  YEAR  1900-1901 


MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX 

BROOKLYN 

1899 

251 

181 
5162 

232,931 
225,189 
207,470 

$29,100,000 

1901 

259 
200 
6077 
264,563 
251,548 
230,800 

$36?304>769 

1899 

128 
131 
3215 
140,520 
141,901 
124,200 

$11,592,973 

1901 

131 

142 

3684 
149,678 
152,787 
135,668 

$13,838,024 

No.  of  school  buildings  .     . 
No.  of  teachers     .... 
No  of  sittings  

Average  register  .... 
Average  attendance  .     .     . 
Value  of  school  sites  and 

QUEENS 

RICHMOND 

No  of  schools  ..... 

78 
84 
698 
24,654 
22,413 
19,895 

$2,894,400 

86 

92 

734 

27,963 
25,880 
23,004 

$2,646,750 

31 
29 
230 
93l8 
8730 
7332 

$754,775 

32 
32 
240 

10,686 
9596 
8456 

$945,629 

No.  of  school  buildings  .     . 
No.  of  teachers     .... 
No  of  sittings                 . 

Average  register  .... 
Average  attendance  .     .     . 
Value  of  school  sites  and 
buildings  

TOTAL 


No.  of  schools 

No.  of  school  buildings     .... 

No.  of  teachers 

No.  of  sittings 

Average  register 

Average  attendance 

Value  of  school  sites  and  buildings 


488 
425 
9305 
407,423 
398,233 
358,897 
$44,342,148 


508 
466 

io,735 
452,890 
439,811 
397,928 

$53,735^72 


Teachers'  salaries 
Total  expenditures 


1899 

$   8,127,066.69 
15,316,865.48 


1901 

$12,587,011.50 
22,845,358.66 


1  No  complete   statistics  for  the  school  year   1897-1898  were   available,  for 
obvious  reasons. 


294  The  New  York  Public  School 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION — 1898  TO  1902 

President 

Charles  Bulkley  Hubbell        .        .         1898  (from  February  21  st  to  December 

3ist) 
J.  Edward  Swans trom    .        .        .         1899  (from  January  nth  to  February 

20th) 

Joseph  J.  Little      ....         1899  (from  February  2oth),  1900  (to 

May  i  ;th) 
Miles  M.  O'Brien  ....        1900  (from  May  23d)-i9O2 

Vice-President 

J.  Edward  Swanstrom  .  .  .  1898 
Horace  E.  Dresser  .  .  .  1899 
Charles  E.  Robertson  .  .  .  1900-1902 

Secretary 
A.  Emerson  Palmer       .        .        .        1898  (from  February  2ist)-i9O2 

City  Superintendent  of  Schools 
William  H.  Maxwell       .        .        .         1898  (from  March  15^-1902 

Superintendent  of  School  Buildings 
C.  B.  J.  Snyder      ....         i898(from  February  2ist)-i9O2 

Superintendent  of  School  Siipplies 
Parker  P.  Simmons         ...         1898  (from  March  7th)-i902 

Auditor 
Henry  R.  M.  Cook         .         .        .         1898  (from  March  7^-1902 

Chief  Clerk 

John  Wallace         ....        1898-1900 
Thomas  A.  Dillon          .        .        .         1900-1902 

Examiners 

James  C.  Byrnes    .        .        .        .  1898  (from  September  28th)-i9O2 

Walter  L.  Hervey  ....  1898  (from  September  28^-1902 

Jerome  A.  O'Connell      .         .         .  1898  (from  September  28th)-i902 

George  J.  Smith     ....  1898  (from  September  28th)-iox)2 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1898  to  1901        295 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  SCHOOL  BOARDS— 1898  TO  1902 

MANHATTAN  AND  THE  BRONX 

President 

Charles  Bulkley  Hubbell        .        .        1898 
Joseph  J.  Little      ....         1899,  1900 
Miles  M.  O'Brien  ....         1900-1902 

Secretary 

Arthur  McMullin    ....         1898,  1899  (to  July  1st) 
William  J.  Ellis      .         .        .        .         1900  (from  February  i4th)-i9O2 

Borough  Superintendent  of  Schools 

John  Jasper 1898-1902 

Associate  Superintendents 
George  S.  Davis     ....        1898-1902 


Andrew  W.  Edson 
Matthew  J.  Elgas  . 


Edward  D.  Farrell         .         .        .          898-1902 


James  Godwin 
John  L.  N.  Hunt  . 
Henry  W.  Jameson 


5-1902 
5-1902 


898-1902 
898-1902 
898-1902 


James  Lee 1898-1902 

Arthur  McMullin    .         .        .         .  1899  (From  July  ist)-i9O2 

Albert  P.  Marble    ....  1898-1902 

Clarence  E.  Meleney      .        .         .  1898-1902 

Thomas  S.  O'Brien         .         .         .  1898-1902 

Alfred  T.  Schauffler       .        .        .  1898-1902 

Edgar  Dubs  Shimer       .         .        .  1898-1902 

Seth  T.  Stewart     ....  1898-1902 

Gustave  Straubenmiiller          .         .  1898-1902 

Supervisors  of  Special  Branches 

Free  Lectures  —  Henry  M.  Leipziger 1898-1902 

Music  —  Frank  Damrosch 1898-1902 

Manual  Training  — James  P.  Haney 1898-1902 

Physical  Education  — Miss  M.  Augusta  Requa  .         .        .         .  1898-1902 

Physical  Education  — Miss  Sophie  J.  Nicolai     ....  1898-1900 

Cooking  — Mrs.  Mary  E.  Williams 1898-1902 

Sewing — Mrs.  Annie  L.  Jessup 1898-1902 

Kindergartens  — Miss  Jenny  B.  Merrill 1898-1902 


296  The  New  York  Public  School 

BROOKLYN 

President 

J.  Edward  Swanstrom    .        .        .        1898, 1899 
Charles  E.  Robertson      .        .        .         1899-1902 

Vice-President 

George  H.  Fisher  ....         1898,  1899 
James  F.  Bendernagel     .        .        .         1899-1902 

Secretary 
George  G.  Brown   ....         1898-1902 

Borough  Superintendent  of  Schools 

William  H.  Maxwell       .         .         .         1898  (to  March  I5th) 
Edward  G.  Ward1.        .        .        .         1898  (from  April  5^-1901  (to  Sep- 
tember I4th) 
John  H.  Walsh       ....         1901  (from  October  ist),  1902 

Associate  Superintendents 

William  A.  Campbell       .         .        .  1898  (from  June  7th)-i902 

James  M.  Edsall     ....  1901  (from  February  15th),  1902 

William  L.  Felter    .         .        .        .  1898  (from  February  9th),  1901  (to 

February  i$th) 

John  Griffin,  M.D.          .        .        .  1900  (from  September  ist)-i9O2 

John  H.  Haaren     ....  1899  (from  January  ist) -1902 

A.  S.  Higgins          ....  1899  (from  January  ist)-i9O2 

Charles  W.  Lyon,  Jr.       ...  1900  (from  September  ist)-i9O2 

James  J.  McCabe    ....  1901  (from  December  3d),  1902 

Edward  B.  Shallow          .         .         .  1899  (from  January  ist)-i9O2 

Miss  Grace  C.  Strachan  .         .         .  1900  (from  July  3d)-i9O2 

William  T.  Vlymen         .        .        .  1898  (from  April  5th)-i9oo  (to  July) 

John  H.  Walsh       ....  1898-1901  (to  October  ist) 

Edward  G.  Ward1  .        .        .        .  1898  (to  April  5th) 

Miss  Evangeline  E.  Whitney  .        .  1898  (from  June  7th)-i9O2 

Directors  of  Special  Branches 

Music  —  Albert  S.  Caswell 1898-1902 

Drawing  —  Walter  S.  Goodnough 1898-1902 

Physical  Culture  — Miss  Jessie  H.  Bancroft       ....  1898-1902 

Sewing  —  Miss  Minnie  L.  Hutchinson 1898-1902 

Kindergartens  —  Miss  Fanniebelle  Curtis 1898-1902 

1  Deceased. 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1898  to  1901        297 

QUEENS 

President 

G.  Rowland  Leavitt  .  .  .  1898 
F.  De  Haas  Simonson  .  .  .  1899 
Patrick  J.  White  ....  1900-1902 

Secretary 

Wilson  Palmer        .         .         .         .         1898  (to  May  gth) 
Joseph  H.  Fitzpatrick      .         .         .         1898  (from  May  19^-1902 

Borough  Siiperintendent  of  Schools 
Edward  L.  Stevens          .        .         .         1898-1902 

Associate  Borough  Superintendents 
John  Jameson  Chickering        .         .         1898-1902 
Edward  F.  Fagan 1.         .         .         .         1898-1901  (to  December  7th) 
Cornelius  E.  Franklin      .         .         .         1901  (from  December  24th),  1902 

Supervisors  of  Special  Branches 

Physical  Culture  —  W.  J.  Ballard      .        .        1898  (from  June  3oth)-i9O2 
Drawing  —  Frank  H.  Collins     .        .         .         1898  (from  October  26th) -1902 
Kindergartens  —  Miss  Frances  C.  Hayes  .         1898  (from  June  3Oth)-i9O2 
Music  —  Frank  R.  Rix      ....        1898-1902 

RICHMOND 

President 

Frank  Perlet 1898 

John  T.  Burke  .  .  .  .  1899 
William  J.  Cole  ....  1900-1902 

Secretary 

Franklin  C.  Vitt      ....        1898-1900  (to  December  3ist) 
Robert  Brown         .         .         .         .         1901  (from  January  8th),  1902 

Borough  Superintendent  of  Schools 
Hubbard  R.  Yetman       .        .        .         1898-1902 

Associate  Borough  Superintendents 
Mrs.  Anna  M.  Gordon1  .         .         .         1898-1902 
George  Hogan        ....         1898-1902 

Supervisor  of  Drawing 
Alexander  J.  Driscoll        .        .        .         1898  (from    August    ist)-i9oo    (to 

January  ist) 
1  Deceased. 


CHAPTER  XXXV 
THE  REVISED  CHARTER  OF   1901 

|  THE  method  of  school  administration  with  four  Borough 
School  Boards  and  a  Central  Board  of  Education  was  on  trial 
almost  exactly  four  years.  While  certain  merits  were  claimed 
for  it,  they  were  unquestionably  outweighed  by  its  disadvantages. 
The  four  school  systems  had  a  number  of  features  in  common, 
but  there  was  no  requirement  of  uniformity.  A  general  scheme 
was  provided  for  the  city  at  large  in  financial  matters,  in  the 
holding  of  examinations  for  would-be  teachers  and  the  making 
of  eligible  lists,  in  selecting  sites  and  erecting  buildings,  in  re- 
pairing schoolhouses,  and  in  the  purchase  and  distribution  of 
supplies.  In  educational  matters  each  School  Board  was,  within 
the  limitations  of  the  statute,  a  law  unto  itself.  The  School 
Boards  appointed  and  promoted  teachers  (in  accordance,  of 
course,  with  the  licenses  issued  by  the  Board  of  Examiners), 
determined  courses  of  study,  selected  text-books.  Nominally, 
the  School  Boards  administered  the  General  School  Fund  as 
apportioned  to  them  by  the  Board  of  Education,  but  in  practice 
such  administration  was  a  nullity.  After  May  3,  1900,  teachers' 
salaries  were  fixed  by  the  Board  of  Education,  and  from  that 
date  until  the  close  of  1901  the  moneys  of  the  Department 
were  handled  and  paid  out  by  the  Treasurer  appointed  by  the 
same  Board. 

The  system  adopted  in  1898  was  a  compromise,  and,  like 
many  compromises,  failed  to  work  satisfactorily.  Under  it  there 
was  difficulty  in  fixing  responsibility ;  there  was  more  or  less 
duplication  of  labor ;  there  was  a  lack  of  uniformity  in  educa- 
tional work ;  conflicts  of  authority  between  the  Central  Board 

298 


The  Revised  Charter  of  1901  299 

and  the  School  Boards  occurred.  Especially  was  there  a  lack 
of  harmony  between  the  Brooklyn  School  Board  and  the  Board 
of  Education,  which  the  Manhattan-Bronx  School  Board,  by 
virtue  of  selecting  eleven  of  the  nineteen  members,  practically 
controlled.  The  peculiar  "Brooklyn  idea,"-— the  local  com- 
mittee system,  —  which  differentiated  that  Borough  absolutely 
from  the  rest  of  the  City  in  the  appointment  and  promotion  of 
teachers,  was  a  potent  cause  of  friction.  The  strong  demand 
for  unity  in  educational  administration  was  heeded  by  the 
Commission  appointed  to  revise  the  Charter ;  and  the  amended 
Charter  passed  by  the  Legislature  in  1901  radically  changed  the 
administrative  machinery  and  introduced  a  new  system. 

The  Borough  School  Boards  were  abolished,  and  a  Board  of 
Education  established  for  the  entire  city,  consisting  of  forty-six 
members,  appointed  by  the  Mayor  —  twenty-two  for  the  Borough 
of  Manhattan,  fourteen  for  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  four  for  the 
Borough  of  The  Bronx,  four  for  the  Borough  of  Queens,  and  two 
for  the  Borough  of  Richmond.1  The  office  of  Inspector  of 
Common  Schools  (which  existed  only  in  the  Boroughs  of  Man- 
hattan and  The  Bronx,  the  other  Boroughs  not  having  chosen  to 
provide  for  Inspectors  under  the  permissive  clause  of  the  first 
Charter)  was  abolished,  and  the  Board  of  Education  was  re- 
quired to  divide  the  City  into  forty-six  Local  School  Board 
Districts  —  twenty-two  in  Manhattan,  fourteen  in  Brooklyn,  four 
in  The  Bronx,  four  in  Queens,  and  two  in  Richmond ;  and  for 
each  of  these  districts  the  Revised  Charter  provided  a  Local 
School  Board  consisting  of  seven  members :  five  appointed  by 
the  President  of  the  Borough,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion designated  by  the  President  of  that  Board,  and  the  District 
Superintendent  assigned  to  the  district  by  the  City  Superintend- 
ent of  Schools.  To  the  Local  School  Boards  were  given  powers 
more  considerable  than  the  Inspectors  had  enjoyed ;  but  this 

1  It  will  be  observed  that  The  Bronx  was  no  longer  associated  with  Manhattan 
in  school  affairs,  and  that  the  number  of  Manhattan  members  was  two  less  than  a 
majority  of  the  Board. 


300  The  New  York  Public  School 

feature  was  in  no  sense  a  return  to  the  trustee  system  expunged 
in  1896  in  the  former  city  of  New  York. 

These  Boards  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  appointment  of 
teachers.  They  have  power  to  transfer  teachers  within  their 
own  districts,  subject,  however,  to  the  approval  of  the  Board 
of  Superintendents.  Their  other  duties  are  to  inspect  and 
report  upon  schools  and  school  work ;  to  recommend  additional 
school  accommodations  when  needed ;  to  select  premises  suitable 
to  be  hired  for  school  purposes ;  to  report  any  dereliction  of 
duty  on  the  part  of  officials  of  the  Board  of  Education ;  to  try 
and  determine  matters  relating  to  discipline,  corporal  punish- 
ment, etc. ;  to  try  charges  against  teachers,  subject  to  action 
by  the  Board  of  Education;  to  look  after  janitors  and  prefer 
charges  against  delinquent  ones ;  to  report  all  vacancies  in  the 
teaching  staff  as  they  occur ;  and  to  procure  the  enforcement  of 
the  law  and  the  by-laws  relating  to  the  sanitary  condition  of  the 
schools  and  the  health  of  the  pupils.  The  Local  School  Boards 
are  also  authorized  to  excuse  the  absences  of  teachers,  subject  to 
the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents  where  teachers 
are  excused  with  pay.  Each  of  these  Boards  is  empowered  to 
adopt  by-laws,  and  presents  a  semi-annual  report  to  the  Board 
of  Education.  Members  of  Local  School  Boards  are  required 
to  reside  in  the  districts  for  which  they  are  appointed.  By  the 
assignment  of  members  of  the  Board  of  Education  to  the  several 
Local  School  Boards,  each  of  the  latter  is  given  a  direct  voice  in 
the  central  body  governing  the  schools. 

Lest  a  Board  of  Education  of  forty-six  members  should  prove 
unwieldy,  provision  was  made  for  an  Executive  Committee  of 
fifteen  "  for  the  care,  government  and  management  of  the  public 
school  system  of  the  city,"  in  which  each  Borough  should  be 
represented.  To  this  Committee  the  Board  was  authorized  to 
depute  any  of  its  administrative  powers. 

The  office  of  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  was  retained, 
but  with  greatly  enlarged  powers.  The  provision  of  the  earlier 
Charter  that  he  should  "  have  no  right  of  interference  with  the 


The  Revised  Charter  of  1901  301 

actual  conduct  of  any  school "  was  unconditionally  repealed,  and 
the  City  Superintendent  became,  the  real  rather  than  the  nomi- 
nal head  of  the  school  system.  The  offices  of  Borough  Superin- 
tendent and  Associate  Borough  Superintendent  were  abolished. 
A  Board  of  Superintendents  was  provided  for,  consisting  of  the 
City  Superintendent  and  eight  Associate  City  Superintendents. 
To  this  Board  extensive  powers  were  given.  The  practical 
initiative  in  all  matters  purely  educational  was  committed  to  it. 
It  was  authorized  to  recommend  to  the  Board  of  Education 
grades  and  kinds  of  licenses  and  the  qualifications  therefor ;  to 
establish,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
rules  for  the  graduation,  promotion,  and  transfer  of  pupils;  to 
recommend  text-books,  apparatus,  and  other  scholastic  supplies; 
to  recommend  courses  of  study ;  to  prescribe  regulations 
relative  to  methods  of  teaching  and  make  syllabuses  of  topics 
in  the  various  subjects  taught ;  and  to  nominate  to  the  Board  of 
Education  persons  to  fill  all  vacancies  in  the  teaching  force. 
Nominations  were  required  to  be  made  from  eligible  lists 
(except  principals  of  high  schools  and  principals  and  teachers  of 
training  schools),  the  Board  of  Superintendents  having  liberty 
to  select  from  the  three  highest  names  on  the  list.  Teachers 
were  to  be  appointed,  as  far  as  practicable,  for  districts  within 
the  Boroughs  in  which  they  reside. 

All  the  Borough  and  Associate  Borough  Superintendents 
were  continued  in  office,  either  as  Associate  City  Superin- 
tendents or  District  Superintendents,  there  being  twenty-six  of 
the  latter.  The  Charter  provided  that  successors  to  the  District 
Superintendents  should  be  appointed  by  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, on  the  nomination  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

The  Board  of  Examiners  was  retained,  the  terms  of  the 
members  being  extended  to  six  years,  and  the  other  officers  of 
the  Board  of  Education  were  continued  without  change. 

Provision  was  made  for  unifying  the  lecture  system  by  giv- 
ing the  Board  of  Education  power  to  appoint  a  Supervisor  of 
Lectures  for  the  city  at  large,  for  a  term  of  six  years. 


302  The  New  York  Public  School 

The  provisions  of  Chapter  751  of  the  laws  of  1900  (com- 
monly known  as  the  Davis  Law)  in  reference  to  the  salaries  of 
members  of  the  teaching  and  supervising  staff  were  made  a  part 
of  the  Revised  Charter,  and  the  four-mill  clause  was  also  re- 
tained. The  provision  of  the  Davis  Law  under  which  the 
Board  of  Education  appointed  a  Treasurer  and  disbursed  its 
own  funds  was  repealed,  and  after  January  i,  1902,  all  pay- 
ments were  made  through  the  Department  of  Finance. 

Important  changes  were  made  in  the  Teachers'  Retirement 
Fund.  The  separate  Retirement  Fund  for  Brooklyn  was  done 
away  with,  and  also  the  requirement  for  the  retention  of  one 
per  cent,  from  the  salaries  of  teachers  in  that  Borough.  All 
pension  moneys  were  combined  in  one  fund,  and  the  benefits  of 
the  same  were  extended  to  members  of  the  supervising  staff  J 
and  members  of  the  Board  of  Examiners.  The  amended  law 
provided  that  the  annuity  should  not  exceed  in  the  case  of  a 
teacher  $1000  per  annum,  in  the  case  of  a  principal  $1500, 
and  in  the  case  of  a  supervising  official  $2000.  The  annuity  of 
any  teacher  retired  or  to  be  retired,  it  was  prescribed,  should 
be  not  less  than  $600. 

A  change  of  no  little  significance  was  the  provision  that 
children  under  six  years  of  age  should  not  be  admitted  to  the 
schools  of  the  city  except  in  kindergarten  classes. 

Another  section  provided  for  uniform  requirements  for 
teachers'  licenses  in  all  parts  of  the  city,  thus  eliminating  the 
confusion  which  arose  under  the  Borough  system,  whereby  a 
license  valid  in  one  Borough  was  not  necessarily  so  in  another. 

The  administration  of  the  Compulsory  Education  Law  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools,  and 
he  was  empowered  to  nominate  attendance  officers. 

vjn  general,  the  powers,  duties,  and  functions  of  the  Borough 
School  Boards  were  devolved  upon  the  Board  of  Education.) 

1  Under  this  provision  District  Superintendent  James  Godwin  and  Associate  City 
Superintendent  John  Jasper  were  retired  in  1902. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

•w 

THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK  — 1902  TO  1904 

THE  forty-six  members  of  the  Board  of  Education  were 
appointed  in  January,  1902  (by  Mayor  Seth  Low),  and  the 
Board  entered  upon  its  work  on  the  3d  of  February.  The 
Executive  Committee  was  elected,  consisting  of  fifteen  members 
besides  the  President  of  the  Board,  and  to  it  was  given  power 
to  take  final  action  on  numerous  administrative  matters,  such  as 
the  awarding  of  contracts  for  buildings,  supplies,  etc.,  leases, 
the  appointment  and  promotion  of  clerks  and  other  subordi- 
nates, lectures,  evening  schools,  vacation  schools,  libraries,  plans 
for  buildings,  and  the  like.  By  this  arrangement  the  Board 
itself  was  relieved  of  the  necessity  of  passing  upon  many 
matters  of  a  more  or  less  routine  nature.  The  Board  of  Super- 
intendents was  promptly  completed,1  and,  as  the  heads  of  the 
various  bureaus  were  continued  in  office  under  the  Revised 
Charter,  the  entire  system  was  quickly  put  in  running  order. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  Board  of  Education  was  to 
divide  the  city  into  forty-six  Local  School  Board  Districts.  As 
soon  as  this  was  done  (care  being  taken  to  make  the  districts 
"compact  in  form,  and,  as  near  as  may  be,  of  equal  school 
attendance  in  the  public  schools  therein"),  the  maps  of  the 
districts  were  filed,  after  which  the  members  of  the  Local 
School  Boards  were  appointed  by  the  Borough  Presidents  — 
one  hundred  and  ten  for  Manhattan,  seventy  for  Brooklyn, 
twenty  for  The  Bronx,  twenty  for  Queens,  and  ten  for  Rich- 

1  It  was  composed  of  the  City  Superintendent,  the  four  former  Borough  Super- 
intendents, and  four  persons  selected  by  the  Board  of  Education  from  the  former 
Associate  Borough  Superintendents. 

303 


304 


The  New  York  Public  School 


mond.  The  Charter  required  that  members  of  these  boards 
should  be  residents  of  the  districts  for  which  they  were  ap- 
pointed. In  all  the  Boroughs  except  The  Bronx  and  Queens 
a  number  of  women  were  selected  as  members  of  the  Local 
Boards. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  its  organization,  the  Board  of 
Education  entered  most  energetically  upon  the  work  of  provid- 
ing for  the  ever-increasing  demand  for  more  schools.  There 
were  some  unavoidable  delays  at  the  outset,  on  account  of 
changes  in  the  form  of  contract  for  school  buildings.  In  the 
important  work  mentioned  the  Board  was  aided  by  the  hearty 
co-operation  of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  which 
in  the  three  following  years  authorized  bond  issues  for  school 
sites  and  school  buildings  on  a  scale  quite  unprecedented.  The 
figures  for  the  three  years  are  as  follows : 

BONDS  AUTHORIZED 
$8,000,000 


1902 

1903 
1904 


Total 


9,788,430 

8,500,000 

$26,288,430 


During  the  first  year  of  the  new  Board's  administration 
(covering  a  trifle  less  than  eleven  months)  contracts  were 
awarded  for  new  buildings  and  additions  to  old  ones  providing 
accommodations  for  48,875  children ;  in  the  year  1903,  26,203 
sittings  were  contracted  for,  and  in  1904  (to  December  ist), 
49,550  sittings.  The  new  buildings,  etc.,  actually  opened  in 
these  years  were  as  follows : 


BUILDINGS 

ADDITIONS 

No.  OF  CLASSROOMS 

No.  OF  SITTINGS 

1902 

II 

6 

337 

20,789 

1903 

II 

ii 

394 

21,610 

1904  * 

27 

13 

1140 

57,025 

1  Up  to  December  ist. 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1902  to  1904        305 

Yet,  in  spite  of  all  endeavors,  it  was  impossible  to  provide 
room  for  the  children  clamoring  for  instruction  in  the  public 
schools.  A  large  increase  in  the  number  of  part-time  pupils 
occurred  in  the  autumn  of  1902,  as,  under  the  new  policy  then 
adopted  for  the  first  time,  all  children  over  six  who  presented 
themselves  at  the  schools  were  admitted.  As  a  result  of  this 
policy,  the  number  on  part  time  on  October  3ist  in  that  year 
was  69,063,  as  against  35,347  on  the  3<Dth  of  June  preceding; 
whereas  on  June  30,  1901,  the  total  number  had  been  52,321. 
In  the  ensuing  year  the  conditions  did  not  improve  materi- 
ally. While  the  number  of  part-time  pupils  fell  to  55,809  on 
June  30,  1903,  it  rose  to  91,365  on  October  3ist.  During  the 
next  year  some  progress  was  made :  on  June  30,  1904,  the 
number  on  part  time  was  66,579,  an^  on  October  3ist  follow- 
ing, 72,187.! 

As  one  means  of  aiding  in  the  solution  of  the  problem  of 
overcrowding,  the  Board  of  Education,  in  the  autumn  of  1904, 
decided  to  establish  two  schools  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan 
for  the  higher  grades  only,2  transferring  thereto  from  elemen- 
tary schools  in  the  vicinity  the  classes  of  the  last  two  years  of 
the  course. 

On  the  scholastic  side,  the  most  important  work  of  the  period 
1902-1904  was  the  adoption  of  a  new  and  uniform  course  of 
study  for  the  elementary  schools,  which  went  into  effect  in 
September,  1903.  Previously  the  course  had  embraced  seven 
years  of  work  in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  and  eight  years  in 
the  other  Boroughs.  The  new  course  was  made  eight  years  in 
length  for  all  schools  throughout  the  city.  The  chief  problem 

1  The  half-time  arrangement,  under  which  one  teacher  took  charge  of  one  class 
in  the  forenoon  and  of  another  class  in  the  same  room  in  the  afternoon,  has  been 
done  away  with.     By  the  part-time  plan  one  set  of  pupils  is  in  school  from  8.30  A.M. 
to  12.15  p-M'»  and  another  set  in  the  same  room,  under  another  teacher,  from  12.30 
to  4.15  P.M.    The  morning  teacher  assists  in  the  afternoon  for  an  hour  and  a  quarter, 
and  the  afternoon  teacher  assists  in  the  forenoon  for  a  like  period. 

2  No  special  name  for  these  schools  has  been  adopted :  the  designation  "  pre- 
academic  "  or  "  intermediate  "  has  been  suggested. 

X 


306  The  New  York  Public  School 

was  to  harmonize  the  Manhattan-Bronx  course  with  that  of 
Brooklyn  (after  which  those  in  Queens  and  Richmond  had 
been  modelled),  and  this  was  solved  by  the  extension  of  the 
seven  years'  course,  which  had  long  prevailed  in  the  former 
city  of  New  York,  by  one  year.  It  was  claimed,  according  to 
the  annual  report  of  the  City  Superintendent  for  1903,  that 
there  was  too  much  pressure  on  children  in  Manhattan  and 
The  Bronx;  that  the  graduates  of  high  schools  in  those  Bor- 
oughs were  at  a  disadvantage  as  compared  with  graduates  of 
high  schools  in  other  Boroughs  and  of  other  cities  and  villages 
in  the  State ;  that,  as  the  age  of  children  required  to  attend  school 
had  been  extended  to  fourteen  years  by  the  Compulsory  Educa- 
tion Law,  as  amended,  a  child  entering  the  first-year  grade  at  six 
would,  if  of  average  ability,  in  eight  years  just  complete  the 
course  at  the  time  he  left  school  to  go  to  work ;  and  that  the 
change  could  be  made  "without  shutting  out  children  from 
the  first  year  and  without  serious  derangement  of  the  work  of 
the  schools."  The  report  added,  by  way  of  explanation  : 

"  The  reason  is  that  while  the  course  [in  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx]  was 
nominally  one  of  seven  years  it  was  really  a  course  of  eight  years.  In  other 
words  it  took  the  majority  of  the  children  eight  or  even  nine  years  to  do  the 
work  laid  down  for  seven  years.  The  proof  of  this  statement  lies  in  the  facts, 
first,  that  the  children  completing  the  seven-year  course  in  Manhattan  and  The 
Bronx  were  as  old  as  the  children  completing  the  eight-year  course  in  Brooklyn 
and  older  than  those  completing  the  courses  of  that  length  in  Queens  and 
Richmond  ;  and,  second,  that  in  nearly  every  school  duplicate  grades  existed 
in  some  part  of  the  school  by  which  the  majority  of  the  children  were  required 
to  spend  a  year  in  doing  the  work  laid  down  for  half  a  year"  (p.  64). 

In  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  cooking  had  been  taught  to 
girls  and  workshop  practice  (carpentry)  to  boys  of  the  upper 
grades;  in  Brooklyn  these  subjects  were  not  taught.  The  new 
course  provided  that  cooking  might  be  taught  to  all  girls  in  the 
last  two  years  and  workshop  practice  to  all  boys  throughout  the 
city.  In  the  two  Boroughs  first  mentioned  pupils  were  allowed 
in  certain  grades  to  take  up  the  study  of  German  or  French, 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1902  to  1904.        307 

but  this  was  not  done  in  Brooklyn  and  the  other  Boroughs. 
To  solve  that  difficulty,  it  was  decided  to  introduce  German, 
French,  Latin,  and  stenography  as  elective  studies  in  the  last 
year  of  the  course.  Another  point  of  difference  was  that  in- 
ventional  geometry  and  elementary  algebra  had  been  taught  to 
some  extent  in  the  higher  grades  in  Brooklyn,  but  were  not 
included  in  the  Manhattan-Bronx  course.  This  difference  was 
adjusted  by  adopting  the  Brooklyn  plan  of  introducing  inven- 
tional  geometry  in  the  seventh  year  and  using  algebra  as  an  aid 
to  arithmetic.1 

A  new  course  of  study  for  all  high  schools  except  manual 
training,  commercial,  and  technical  high  schools  was  adopted 
in  1902. 

"  This  was  a  task  of  no  little  difficulty  owing,  first,  to  the  very  marked 
differences  that  have  existed  in  the  several  boroughs,  and,  second,  to  the 
great  difference  of  opinion  that  now  prevails  among  educators  as  to  the  respec- 
tive advantages  of  fixed  courses  and  elective  courses.  Both  of  these  difficulties 
have,  I  believe,  been  successfully  met  by  the  adoption  of  a  course  which  pro- 
vides twenty  periods  of  required  work  the  first  year  ;  fifteen  periods  the  second 
year  ;  eighteen  periods  the  third  year  ;  and  fifteen  periods  the  fourth  year. 
After  this  required  work  is  accomplished,  the  student  is  allowed  to  select  from 
a  large  number  of  electives,  but  in  no  case  is  he  permitted  to  take  more  than 
twenty-one  periods  per  week  of  work  requiring  preparation.  These  periods 
are  in  addition  to  periods  devoted  to  work  that  does  not  require  preparation, 
such  as  drawing,  physical  training  and  vocal  music."  2 

From  1902  to  1904  there  was  a  marked  expansion  of  high 
school  activity  in  New  York  City.  The  High  School  of  Com- 
merce, in  Manhattan,  was  organized  in  September,  1902 ;  and 
one  year  later  the  school  took  possession  of  its  new  building. 
In  September,  1902,  also,  the  Girls'  Technical  High  School,  in 
Manhattan  (having,  in  addition  to  the  regular  high  school  course, 
a  two-year  course  to  prepare  pupils  for  occupations  in  which 

1  The  new  course  of  study  is  given  in  full  in  Appendix  II. 

2  Annual  report  of  City  Superintendent,  1902,  p.  69.    The  courses  of  study  for 
high  schools  will  be  found  in  Appendix  III. 


308  The  New  York  Public  School 

women  easily  secure  employment),  was  opened  in  the  building 
formerly  used  as  the  headquarters  of  the  Wadleigh  High  School, 
which  in  that  month  moved  into  its  fine  new  building,  having 
accommodations  for  2500  pupils.1  In  September,  1904,  the  Stuy- 
vesant  High  School  (the  long-desired  manual  training  school)  was 
organized  in  Manhattan,  and  quartered  temporarily  in  a  build- 
ing in  East  Twenty-third  street  previously  used  for  one  of 
the  numerous  branches  of  the  De  Witt  Clinton  High  School. 
Definite  action  in  reference  to  the  latter  was  taken  in  1903, 
when  a  contract  was  made  for  a  building  at  Tenth  avenue, 
Fifty-eighth  and  Fifty-ninth  streets,  on  the  site  selected  for 
the  purpose  in  1 897.2  The  exceptionally  handsome  and  im- 
posing new  building  for  the  Morris  High  School,  in  The 
Bronx,  was  completed  and  occupied  in  1904.  In  that  year  new 
buildings  were  completed  for  the  Manual  Training  High  School 
in  Brooklyn  and  the  Long  Island  City  High  School  (now  called 
the  Bryant) ;  the  first  high  school  building  in  Richmond,  known 
as  the  Curtis  High  School,  was  also  finished  and  occupied. 
Contracts  were  made  in  1904  for  new  buildings  for  the  Stuy- 
vesant  High  School,  the  Commercial  High  School  (Brooklyn), 
and  Erasmus  Hall  High  School ;  and  a  site  was  secured  for  a 
commodious  building  for  the  Eastern  District  High  School. 
Upon  the  completion  of  the  Curtis  School,  the  remaining  high 
school  departments  in  Richmond  were  abolished,  and  the  simi- 
lar department  in  Public  School  n,  Queens,  was  terminated 
after  the  Bryant  School  entered  its  new  building. 

Truly,  the  development  of  high  schools  in  the  territory  of 
Greater  New  York  within  a  period  covering  little  more  than 
seven  years  has  been  extraordinary.  ^ 

The  Brooklyn  Training  School  took  possession  of  its  new 

1  It  was  found  necessary  to  open  an  annex  to  the  Wadleigh  High  School  in 
Public  School  1 86  in  September,  1903. 

2  In  1901  it  had  been  decided  by  the  Manhattan-Bronx  School  Board  to  place 
the  De  Witt  Clinton  School  on  the  site  in  East  Fifteenth  and  East  Sixteenth  streets, 
which  was  chosen  in  1897  f°r  tne  manual  training  high  school  then  held  in  contem- 
plation. 


The  City  of  New  York  —  1902  to  1904         309 


building  (Public  School  138)  in  1903.  In  1902  a  new  era  in  the 
history  of  the  institution  was  marked  by  the  extension  of  the 
course  of  study  to  two  years,  making  it  uniform  with  that  of 
the  New  York  Training  School.1 

By  reason  of  the  requirement  of  the  Revised  Charter  that 
children  under  six  should  be  admitted  only  to  kindergarten 
classes,  there  was  a  decided  increase  in  the  number  of  kinder- 
gartens beginning  with  1902.  The  number  of  kindergarten 
classes  in  June,  1901,  was  144  ;  in  December,  1902,  it  was 
326  (with  11,344  pupils);  in  October,  1903,  there  were  420 
classes,  and  14,357  pupils;  in  October,  1904,  the  number  of 
classes  was  478,  containing  16,008  children.  In  order  to  estab- 
lish kindergartens,  many  rooms  were  rented  by  the  Board  of 
Education. 

The  vacation  schools  (begun  in  1898)  and  similar  activities 
were  continued  with  increasing  success  and  enlarged  usefulness. 
In  1902  this  work  was  placed  in  charge  of  one  District  Superin- 
tendent. In  that  year  a  special  sum  of  $25,000  was  allowed  by 
the  financial  authorities  of  the  city  for  the  summer  work.  This 
enabled  bands  of  music  to  be  engaged  for  a  number  of  roof 
playgrounds,  which  greatly  increased  the  public  interest.  An- 
other new  feature  introduced  was  the  cultivation  of  small  gar- 
dens by  children  in  several  of  the  open-air  playgrounds.  In 
connection  with  the  vacation  schools  excursions  were  made,  with 
profit  and  pleasure,  to  various  points  of  interest  in  remoter  parts 
of  the  city.  The  evening  recreation  centres,  which  after  1902 
were  not  opened  in  July  and  August,  furnished  occupation  and 
amusement  to  many  thousands.  In  1902,  at  twelve  of  these 
centres  the  aggregate  attendance  was  722,653  ;  from  September, 
1902,  to  June  15,  1903,  there  were  twenty-three  centres  and  the 
aggregate  attendance  reached  1,154,829.  The  extent  of  these 
branches  of  work  is  shown  by  the  following  statement  : 

1  The  course  of  study  for  training  schools  may  be  found  in  Appendix  IV. 


3io 


The  New  York  Public  School 


VACATION  SCHOOLS 


NUMBER 

AVERAGE  ATTENDANCE 

COST 

1902 

1903 
1904 

32 

54 
39 

12,916 
18,927 
17,446 

$  42,7SI-44 
122,121.30 

73,847-77 

VACATION  PLAYGROUNDS,  ETC. 


1902 

1  02 

55.948 

$  59,065.73 

1903 

no 

68,598 

106,830.32 

1904 

88 

69,497 

57,394.74 

RECREATION  CENTRES 


1902 

12 

2657 

$25.607.69 

1903 

18 

6154 

56,834.00 

1904 

23 

6191 

54,763.08 

The  work  of  the  evening  schools  was  also  made  uniform  by 
the  appointment  of  one  District  Superintendent  to  oversee  them. 
Several  changes  in  administration  were  made  in  1902-1903.  The  ' 
number  of  sessions  in  the  elementary  schools  was  reduced  from 
five  to  four  per  week ;  in  Brooklyn  the  sexes  were  segregated  in 
different  buildings,  as  had  been  done  for  many  years  on  Man- 
hattan Island ;  and  an  outline  course  of  study  for  the  teaching 
of  English  to  foreigners  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Superin- 
tendents. In  that  year  there  were  eleven  evening  high  schools 
and  sixty-nine  evening  elementary  schools.  In  the  autumn  of 
1904  there  were  ten  evening  high  schools  (five  for  women)  and 
seventy-two  evening  elementary  schools. 

Before  the  revision  of  the  Charter  in  1901  the  educational 
authorities  had  power  to  "  maintain  free  lectures  for  working 
men  and  working  women."  The  amended  Charter  authorized 
the  Board  of  Education  to  "  maintain  free  lectures  and  courses 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1902  to  1904        311 


of  instruction  for  the  people  of  The  City  of  New  York."  This 
change  and  the  appointment  of  a  Supervisor  of  Lectures  for  the 
city  at  large  resulted  not  only  in  the  unifying  of  the  lecture 
work  in  all  the  Boroughs,  but  in  the  expansion  of  this  educa- 
tional activity  by  the  establishment  of  courses  of  lectures  by 
specialists  on  scientific  and  other  subjects.  The  lecture  system 
as  it  has  been  developed  now  forms  an  organized  system  of 
adult  education.  That  it  is  appreciated  by  the  people  of  New 
York  City  is  attested  by  the  popular  interest,  indicated  not  only 
by  the  attendance,  but  by  the  reading  and  study  to  which  the 
auditors  are  incited  after  hearing  the  lecturers.  It  is  further 
evidenced  by  the  increase  in  good  reading  through  co-operation 
with  the  public  libraries,  and  by  the  circulation  by  the  Board  of 
Education  of  books  relating  to  the  subjects  of  the  lectures.  No 
further  comment  upon  the  usefulness  of  this  work  is  called  for. 
The  figures  of  attendance  have  an  eloquence  of  their  own  : 


NUMBER  OF  CENTRES 

NUMBER  OF  LECTURES 

ATTENDANCE 

1901-02 

100 

3172 

928,251 

1902-03 

128 

4221 

1,204,126 

1903-04 

137 

4665 

1,134,005 

The  magnitude  of  this  branch  of  the  work  of  the  educational 
department  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  the  sixteen  years 
since  free  lectures  were  established  the  aggregate  attendance 
has  been  upwards  of  eight  millions ! 

"  Summing  up  the  results  of  the  free  lectures,  it  may  be  said  : 

"  First  —  That  adult  education  is  established  as  a  permanent  part  of  our 
educational  scheme. 

"  Second —  That  reading  and  study  have  been  encouraged,  a  deeper  in- 
terest in  school  life  developed,  and  a  refining  influence  spread. 

"  Third — That  co-operation  has  been  brought  about  between  the  lecture, 
the  library  and  the  museum. 

"  Fourth  —  That  the  best  teachers  in  our  universities  have  come  in  con- 
tact with  the  people. 


312  The  New  York  Public  School 

"  Fifth  —  That  the  school  is  becoming  the  social  centre  of  the  community. 

'•'•Sixth  —  That  the  school  of  the  future  must  be  constructed  with  a  view  to 
its  use  for  various  educative  influences,  so  that  it  may  become  not  alone  a 
nursery  for  children  but  a  place  of  intelligent  resort  for  men." 1 

In  1902  a  new  license,  known  as  the  "  License  for  Promo- 
tion," was  established  by  the  Board  of  Education,  providing  for 
the  creation  of  an  eligible  list  from  which  teachers  might  be 
nominated  from  the  first  six  grades  of  the  elementary  schools 
to  the  two  highest  grades.  By  an  amendment  to  the  by-laws 
adopted  in  the  following  year  it  was  provided  that  teachers  in 
evening  schools,  vacation  schools,  etc.,  should  be  nominated  from 
eligible  lists  prepared  by  the  Board  of  Examiners. 

With  the  change  of  administration,  in  1902,  the  policy  of 
consolidating  departments  in  the  Manhattan-Bronx  schools, 
which  had  been  adopted  to  some  extent  before  1898,  was  pressed 
more  urgently,  in  the  interest  of  economy  and  efficiency,  and 
also  to  make  as  full  use  as  possible  of  school  accommodations, 
and  to  increase  the  safety  of  children,  in  the  event  of  fire,  by 
having  one  person  in  sole  charge  of  a  school  building. 

Amendments  of  considerable  moment  were  made  to  the 
Compulsory  Education  Law  by  Chapter  459  of  the  laws  of  1903. 
The  amended  law  provided  that  no  child  under  fourteen  years 
of  age  should  be  employed,  and  that  no  child  between  fourteen 
and  sixteen  should  be  employed  who  had  not  obtained  from  the 
Board  of  Health  an  employment  certificate  based  upon  an  actual 
school  attendance  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  days  after  his 
thirteenth  birthday.  It  was  further  provided  that  all  boys  be- 
tween fourteen  and  sixteen  who  had  not  completed  the  course 
of  study  for  the  elementary  schools  should  attend  evening 
schools  four  evenings  each  week  for  a  period  of  sixteen  weeks 
in  each  year.  Another  provision  of  the  law  was  that  an  habitual 
and  incorrigible  truant  might  be  committed  to  a  truant  school 
for  two  years  :  the  effect  of  this  provision  was  to  keep  the  truant 

1  From  The  History  of  the  Free  Lecture  System  of  The  City  of  New  York, 
Leipziger,  pp.  22-25. 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1902  to  1904        313 

schools  open  continuously,  whereas  they  had  previously  been 
closed  at  the  end  of  the  school  year.  The  changes  in  this 
law  required  the  appointment  of  an  increased  number  of  attend- 
ance officers. 

In  1904  a  site  for  a  truant  school,  comprising  one  hundred 
and  seven  acres,  was  purchased  in  the  Borough  of  Queens,  and 
plans  are  being  prepared  for  an  institution,  to  be  conducted 
on  the  cottage  plan,  for  the  accommodation  of  one  thousand 
truants. 

Owing  to  the  change  adopted  in  1903  in  assessing  real  estate 
at  its  supposed  actual  value,  and  the  consequent  increase  in  the 
assessed  valuation  of  property  in  the  city,  the  Board  of  Education 
consented  to  a  change  in  that  section  of  the  Charter  providing 
that  there  should  be  appropriated  annually  for  the  General 
School  Fund  "  an  amount  equivalent  to  not  less  than  four  mills 
on  every  dollar  of  assessed  valuation  of  the  real  and  personal 
estate  in  the  city  of  New  York,  liable  to  taxation,"  and  by 
Chapter  43  of  the  laws  of  1903  the  amount  was  reduced  from 
four  to  three  mills.  The  effect  of  this  change  was  serious. 
Three  mills  did  not  produce  a  sufficient  sum  for  the  purposes  of 
the  General  School  Fund,  and  the  Board  of  Estimate  and 
Apportionment  refused  to  appropriate  for  1904  the  amount 
deemed  necessary  by  the  Board  of  Education,  the  estimate  of 
the  latter  Board  for  teachers'  salaries  and  allied  purposes  being 
reduced  by  $964,091.06.  The  Board  of  Education  was  accord- 
ingly obliged  to  introduce  economies  in  sundry  directions,  and 
in  the  early  part  of  1904  it  was  doubtful  for  a  time  whether  the 
vacation  schools,  etc.,  could  be  opened.  Some  additional  means 
were  provided,  however,  and  these  activities  were  continued,  but 
not  on  so  extensive  a  scale  as  had  been  hoped.  The  effect  of 
the  reduced  appropriation  was  also  felt  on  the  evening  schools 
and  the  lecture  work. 

A  condition  of  affairs  almost  as  serious  existed  near  the  close 
of  1904,  in  consequence  of  a  reduction  made  by  the  Board  of 
Estimate  and  Apportionment  in  the  General  School  Fund 


314  The  New  York  Public  School 

for  1905  from  $18,728,487.47  (the  amount  asked  by  the  Board 
of  Education)  to  $17,783,868.74. 

To  promote  efficiency  in  administration,  the  Board  of 
Education  in  1902  and  1903  provided  for  a  Superintendent  of 
Libraries,  a  general  Director  of  Physical  Culture,  and  a  Super- 
visor of  Janitors.  The  duties  of  these  officials  are  indicated  with 
sufficient  clearness  by  their  titles. 

For  purposes  of  organization  and  supervision  the  elementary 
schools  were,  in  1902,  divided  into  five  orders,  as  follows  :  First 
order,  schools  having  forty-eight  or  more  classes  ;  second  order, 
schools  having  from  twenty-eight  to  forty-seven  classes;  third 
order,  schools  having  from  twelve  to  twenty-seven  classes ; 
fourth  order,  schools  having  from  six  to  eleven  classes;  fifth 
order,  schools  having  less  than  six  classes. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1904,  the  list  of  retired  teachers 
contained  six  hundred  and  eighty-eight  names,  and  the  amount 
of  the  payroll  for  that  month  was  $43,329.85. 

A  number  of  court  decisions  have  been  rendered,  having 
such  a  bearing  upon  the  status,  rights,  and  privileges  of  the  Board 
of  Education  that  the  most  important  of  them  deserve  to  be 
summarized. 

In  the  case  of  Gunnison  vs.  the  Board  of  Education,  the 
Court  of  Appeals  held  that  "  the  policy  of  this  State  for  more 
than  half  a  century  has  been  to  separate  public  education  from  all 
other  municipal  functions,  and  entrust  it  to  independent  corporate 
agencies  of  its  own  creation,  such  as  school  districts  and  boards 
of  education,  with  capacity  to  sue  and  be  sued  in  all  matters 
involved  in  the  exercise  of  their  corporate  powers " ;  that  the 
Board  of  Education  of  New  York  City  is  a  separate  and  distinct 
corporation ;  that,  while  the  city  has  the  custody  of  the  public 
money  for  the  support  and  conduct  of  the  schools,  "  the  Board 
must  administer  and  expend  all  school  funds  as  the  representa- 
tive of  the  school  system,  and  the  financial  officer  of  the  city 
cannot  pay  out  any  part  of  those  funds  except  upon  the  order 
and  audit  of  the  Board  " ;  that  the  management  of  the  schools 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1902  to  1904        315 

is  not  a  city  function  like  the  care  of  the  streets  or  the  employ- 
ment of  the  police ;  and  that  "  the  only  relation  that  the  city 
has  to  the  subject  of  public  education  is  as  the  custodian  and 
depositary  of  the  school  fund  and  its  only  duty  with  respect  to 
that  fund  is  to  keep  it  safely  and  disburse  the  same  according 
to  the  instructions  of  the  Board  of  Education." 

In  the  case  of  the  People  ex  rel.  Murphy  vs.  Maxwell,  the 
same  court  passed  upon  the  validity  of  a  by-law  adopted  by  the 
Brooklyn  School  Board  providing  that  if  a  woman  teacher 
should  marry  her  place  thereupon  became  vacant.  The  court 
held  that  the  School  Board  "  had  no  power  either  to  pass  a  by- 
law on  the  subject  or  to  provide  for  the  compulsory  termination 
of  the  employment  of  the  teacher  except  in  the  manner  pointed 
out  by  the  statute  " ;  that  the  by-law  was  in  conflict  with  the 
section  of  the  Charter  providing  for  removal  for  cause  and 
specifying  gross  misconduct,  insubordination,  neglect  of  duty, 
and  general  inefficiency  as  the  grounds  of  removal.  In  view  of 
this  decision,  the  Board  of  Education  in  April,  1904,  rescinded 
its  by-law  providing  that  if  a  woman  teacher  should  marry 
charges  might  be  preferred  against  her  by  reason  of  such 
marriage.  A  large  number  of  women  teachers  were  married  in 
the  next  few  months  and  continued  to  teach. 

In  the  People  ex  rel.  Callahan  vs.  Board  of  Education,  the 
court  held  that  a  teacher  who  has  been  regularly  appointed  or 
promoted  to  a  position  having  a  definite  rank  and  salary  cannot 
be  reduced  in  rank  except  in  the  manner  provided  by  law  for 
removals ;  that  such  a  reduction  is,  in  effect,  a  removal  and  an 
appointment  to  a  lower  position. 

The  decision  in  the  "  Goldey  case  "  was  to  the  effect  that  a 
permanent  license  formerly  granted  in  any  part  of  the  consoli- 
dated city  has  the  same  validity  and  value  as  at  the  time  it 
was  granted,  and  that  the  holders  of  such  licenses,  if  in  the 
system,  are  eligible  to  appointment  or  promotion  to  the  same 
ranks  or  grades  of  positions  as  at  the  time  their  licenses  were 
granted. 


316  The  New  York  Public  School 

COMPARISON,  SCHOOL  YEAR  1901-1902  —  SCHOOL  YEAR  1903-1904 


1901-1903 

1903-1904 

Number  of  schools    

C  1  2 

COI 

51Z 
4.64. 

>)W1. 

C4.6 

11.776 

9^** 

11  III 

cgc  822 

A  J'1^1 
622  2OI 

A.2Q  J.8o 

/i  66  C7i 

$T7  876  7C2  l8 

$IC  COQ  767  60 

23  OI  3  CQQ  77 

27  848  8c"?  1  6 

•6jj<M>i  joyy'// 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  — 1902  TO  1904 
President 

Charles  C.  Burlingham     .     1902  (from  February  3d),  1903  (to  February  2d) 
.     .     1903  (from  February  2d),  1904  (to  June  25th) 
.    .     1904  (from  November  23d) 

Vice-President 
.    .     1902  (from  February  3d)-i9O4 

Secretary 
.    .    1902-1904 

Assistant  Secretary 
.    .     1902-1904 

Chief  Clerk 
.    .     1902-1904 

Superintendent  of  School  Buildings 
.    .     1902-1904 


Henry  A.  Rogers1 
Henry  N.  Tifft  . 


Frank  L.  Babbott 


A.  Emerson  Palmer 


Fred  H.  Johnson 


Thomas  A.  Dillon 


C.  B.  J.  Snyder  .    .    . 

Superintendent  of  School  Supplies 
Parker  P.  Simmons  .  .  1902,  1903  (to  December  ist) 
Patrick  Jones  ....  1903  (from  December  23d),  1904 


Henry  R.  M.  Cook 


Auditor 
1902-1904 

1  Deceased, 


The  City  of  New  York  — 1902  to  1904        317 


City  Superintendent  of  Schools 
William  H.  Maxwell      ....        1902-1904 


Associate  City  Superintendents 


George  S.  Davis  . 
Andrew  W.  Edson 
Algernon  S.  Higgins 
John  Jasper1 
Albert  P.  Marble  . 
Clarence  E.  Meleney 
Thomas  S.  O'Brien 
Edward  L.  Stevens 
John  H.  Walsh     . 
Hubbard  R.  Yetman 


Darwin  L.  Bardwell 
William  A.  Campbell    . 
John  J.  Chickering 
John  Dwyer  .        .        . 
James  M.  Edsall   . 
Andrew  W.  Edson 
Matthew  J.  Elgas  . 
Edward  D.  Farrell 
Cornelius  E.  Franklin   . 
James  Godwin 1     . 
Mrs.  Anna  M.  Gordon  2 
John  Griffin,  M.D. 
John  H.  Haaren    . 
Charles  S.  Haskell2 


1902-1904 

1902  (from  September  24th)-i9O4 

1902-1904 

1902  (to  September  ist) 
1902-1904 

1903  (from  January  I4th),  1904 
1902-1904 

1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1902,  1903  (to  January  ist) 


District  Superintendents 


George  Hogan 
John  L.  N.  Hunt  . 
Henry  W.  Jameson 
James  Lee     . 
Charles  W.  Lyon,  Jr. 
James  J.  McCabe  . 
Arthur  McMullin  . 
Clarence  E.  Meleney 


1  Retired. 


1902  (from  September  24^-1904 

1902-1904 

1902-1904 

1902  (from  May  28th)-i9O4 

1902-1904 

1902  (to  September  24th) 

1902-1904 

1902-1904 

1902-1904 

1902  (to  February  26th) 

1902  (to  March  26th) 

1902-1904 

1902-1904 

1902  (from  October  22d),  1903  (to 

July  1 2th) 
1902  (to  April  23d) 
1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1902,  1903  (to  January  I4th) 

2  Deceased. 


318  The  New  York  Public  School 

Miss  Julia  Richman      ....  1903  (from  September  23d),  1904 

Alfred  T.  Schauffler      ....  1902-1904 

Edward  B.  Shallow       ....  1902-1904 

Edgar  Dubs  Shimer      ....  1902-1904 

Seth  T.  Stewart 1902-1904 

Edward  W.  Stitt 1903  (from  February  2d),  1904 

Miss  Grace  C.  Strachan         .        .        .  1902-1904 

Gustave  Straubenmiiller        .         .         .  1902-1904 

Joseph  S.  Taylor 1902  (from  July  nth) -1904 

Miss  Evangeline  E.  Whitney        .        .  1902-1904 

Examiners 

James  C.  Byrnes 1902-1904 

Walter  L.  Hervey 1902-1904 

Jerome  A.  O'Connell     .        .        .        .  1902-1904 

George  J.  Smith 1902-1904 

Supervisor  of  Free  Lectures 
Henry  M.  Leipziger       ....        1902-1904 

Directors  of  Special  Branches 

THE  CITY  OF   NEW  YORK 

Physical  Training  —  Luther  H.  Gulick    .        1903  (from  February  ist),  1904 

MANHATTAN   AND   THE   BRONX 

Music  —  Frank  Damrosch        .         .         .  1902-1904 

Manual  Training  —  James  P.  Haney       .  1902-1904 

Sewing  —  Mrs.  Annie  L.  Jessup      .         .  1902-1904 

Kindergartens  —  Miss  Jenny  B.  Merrill  .  1902-1904 

Cooking  —  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Williams  .         .  1902-1904 
Physical    Training  —  Miss    M.    Augusta 

Requa 1902, 1903 

BROOKLYN 

Music  —  Albert  S.  Caswell      .         .         .         .  1902-1904 

Drawing  —  Walter  S.  Goodnough  .         .         .  1902-1904 

Sewing  —  Miss  Minnie  L.  Hutchinson    .         .  1902-1904 

Kindergartens  —  Miss  Fanniebelle  Curtis        .  1902-1904 

Physical  Training  —  Miss  Jessie  H.  Bancroft  1902,  1903 


The  City  of  New  York — 1902  to  1904.        319 

QUEENS  AND  RICHMOND 

Drawing  —  Frank  H.  Collins  .         .         .         .  1902-1904 

Music  —  Frank  R.  Rix 1902-1904 

Kindergartens  —  Miss  Frances  C.  Hayes       .  1902-1904  (to  September) 

Physical  Training  — W.  J.  Ballard         .        .  1902,1903 

Assistant  Directors  of  Special  Branches 

Physical  Training  —  Miss  M.  Augusta  Requa         1903,  1904  (to  May  25th) 
Physical  Training  — Miss  Jessie  H.  Bancroft         1903,  1904 
Physical  Training  — W.  J.  Ballard         .        .        1903,1904 

Supervisor  of  Janitors 
Harry  M.  Devoe 1902  (from  October  13^-1904 

Superintendent  of  Libraries 
Claude  G.  Leland 1903  (from  February  15 th),  1904 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 
THE  COLLEGE  OF  THE   CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

THE  Free  Academy,  out  of  which  the  College  of  the  City 
of  New  York  was  evolved,  was  established  in  pursuance  of  an 
act  passed  by  the  Legislature  on  May  7,  1847.  The  first  offi- 
cial action  in  reference  to  it  was  taken  onTfuly  27,  1846,  when 
a  resolution  was  introduced  in  the  Board  of  Education  by 
Mr.  Townsend  Harris,  then  President  of  the  Board,  proposing 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  "  enquire  into  the  applica- 
tion of  that  part  of  the  Literature  Fund  which  is  apportioned 
by  the  Regents  of  the  University  to  the  City  and  County  of  New 
York,"  and  also  as  to  the  expediency  of  applying  "  to  the  Legis- 
lature for  such  an  alteration  of  the  law  as  will  permit  the  monies 
referred  to,  to  be  applied  to  the  support  of  a  high  school  or 
college  for  the  benefit  of  pupils  who  have  been  educated  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  City  and  County." 

The  report  of  the  committee,  consisting  of  Mr.  Harris  and 
Mr.  J.  S.  Bosworth,  was  laid  before  the  Board  on  January  20, 
1847,  and  on  the  loth  of  the  succeeding  month  it  was  decided 
to  present  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature.  This  led  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  above-mentioned  act.  The  act  authorized  the  Board 
of  Education  to  establish  a  Free  Academy  "  for  the  purpose  of 
extending  the  benefits  of  education  gratuitously  to  persons  who 
have  been  pupils  in  the  common  schools  "  of  the  city  and  county 
of  New  York,  and  provided  that  at  the  election  of  school  offi- 
cers to  be  held  in  the  following  June  the  question  of  establishing 
the  Academy  should  be  submitted  to  the  people.  This  was 
done,  with  the  gratifying  result  that  19,404  votes  were  cast  in 
favor  of  the  plan,  to  3409  against  it.  Having  secured  so  flatter- 

320 


The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York         321 

ing  a  popular  verdict  in  its  favor,  the  Board  of  Education 
promptly  proceeded  to  carry  the  project  into  effect 

The  act  limited  the  amount  to  be  expended  on  the  building 
to  $50,000,  and  fixed  the  sum  to  be  applied  to  the  support  of 
the  Academy  at  $20,000  a  year.  A  site  was  procured  on  the 
southeast  corner  of  Lexington  avenue  and  Twenty-third  street, 
at  a  cost  of  $25,000,  and  work  on  the  building  was  begun  in 
November,  1847.  The  building,  in  the  style  of  the  Gothic  town 
halls  of  the  Netherlands,  was  erected  within  the  limit  of  cost 
fixed  by  the  statute ;  in  fact,  at  the  opening  of  the  Academy  it 
was  proudly  stated  that  the  cost  had  been  but  $48,000.  For 
fixtures,  furniture,  etc.,  text-books,  and  supplies,  about  $14,000 
was  expended.  In  January,  1850,  when  the  Academy  had  been 
in  operation  a  year,  the  total  expenditure  was  officially  reported 
as  $90,049.71. 

So  expeditiously  were  the  building  operations  carried  on 
that  the  Academy  was  opened  for  the  examination  of  pupils  on 
the  1 5th  of  January,  1849,  and  the  formal  opening  exercises 
were  held  on  the  27th  of  that  month,  exactly  two  years  and  six 
months  from  the  day  on  which  Mr.  Harris  presented  the  orig- 
inal resolution  on  the  subject.  Dr.  Horace  Webster,  who  had 
been  educated  at  West  Point,  and  who  at  this  time  was  pro- 
fessor of  natural  philosophy  in  Hobart  College,  was  chosen  as 
principal  and  professor  of  moral  and  intellectual  philosophy. 
The  following  departments  of  instruction  were  established  : 
Mathematics  and  natural  philosophy ;  history  and  belles-lettres  ; 
Latin  Imd  Greek  languages  and  literatures ;  chemistry  and 
physics ;  French  language  and  literature ;  Spanish  language 
and  literature ;  German  language  and  literature ;  drawing  and 
arts  of  design. 

Semi-annual  examinations  for  admission  were  provided  for : 
at  the  first  examination  272  candidates  from  the  public  and 
ward  schools  were  examined  and  143  admitted;  at  the  second 
136  were  examined  and  59  admitted.  The  rules  at  first  pro- 
vided that  no  person  under  twelve  years  of  age  should  be 


322  The  New  York  Public  School 

allowed  to  enter ;  but  the  age  limit  was  quickly  raised  to 
thirteen.  To  secure  admission  it  was  necessary  to  pass  an 
examination  in  spelling,  reading,  writing,  English  grammar, 
geography,  all  the  rules  of  arithmetic,  and  history  of  the  United 
States.  In  a  short  time  these  requirements  were  increased. 
The  first  class  was  graduated  in  1853. 

The  annual  report  for  the  year  1849-1850,  presented  to  the 
Board  on  May  15,  1850,  was  prepared  by  a  committee  one 
member  of  which  was  Mr.  Horace  Greeley.  It  is  significant 
that  Mr.  Greeley,  while  approving  the  report  generally,  dis- 
sented from  that  part  of  it  commending  the  foundation,  objects, 
and  management  of  the  Free  Academy.  He  pronounced  the 
course  of  instruction  "radically  defective  and  vicious"  on 
account  of  the  time  devoted  to  the  study  of  dead  languages, 
"to  the  necessary  exclusion  and  neglect  of  sciences  and  arts." 
"I  distrust  and  challenge,"  he  continued,  "the  policy  of  giving 
a  part  of  the  children  of  our  City  a  far  more  costly  education, 
at  the  public  expense,  than  is  provided  for  and  freely  proffered 
to  all  children,  without  reserve  or  exception."  He  denied  "the 
right  of  a  community  to  give  a  superior  education  to  its  most 
intellectual  and  cultivated  youth,"  and  said  further : 

"  The  cost  of  this  Free  Academy,  judiciously  expended,  would  suffice  to 
rescue,  annually,  at  least  one  thousand  destitute  and  sorely  afflicted  children 
from  our  City's  lanes,  courts  and  cellars,  where  they  are  daily  sinking  deeper 
and  deeper  into  the  bottomless  gulf  of  vagrancy,  want,  beggary,  theft,  prosti- 
tution, disease  and  death,  and  place  them  in  virtuous  and  happy,  though 
humble  homes,  where  the  blessings  of  wise  guardianship,  assured  plenty, 
education,  industry  and  proficiency  in  the  useful  arts,  would  be  secured  to 
them.  For  these  and  kindred  reasons  which  I  will  not  here  require  shall  be 
set  forth,  I  protest  against  the  existence  of  the  Free  Academy,  and  demand 
its  termination." 

In  1854  collegiate  powers  and  privileges  were  granted  to 
the  Academy  by  the  Legislature,  thus  enabling  it  to  confer  on 
its  graduates  the  usual  degrees  in  arts  and  sciences.  \  On  the 
recommendation  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  Academy  was, 
in  1866,  by  act  of  the  Legislature,  erected  into  the  College  of 


The  College  of  tJie  City  of  New  York         323 

the  City  of  New  York,  and  the  Board  of  Education  became  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  College.")  By  an  act  passed  in  1872 
the  President  of  the  College  was  made,  ex  officio,  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  also  of  the  Executive  Committee 
for  the  care,  government,  and  management  of  the  institution. 

^/The  course  of  studies  in  the  early  years  of  the  Academy 
covered  five  years,  and  included  much  that  is  now  included  in 
the  regular  course  in  the  city  high  schools.;  In  1854  a  full 
collegiate  course  of  four  years,  with  the  usual  designation  of 
freshman,  sophomore,  junior,  and  senior  classes,  was  introduced, 
together  with  a  sub-freshman  or  preparatory  course  of  one  year. 
In  1899,  on  the  recommendation  of  the  faculty,  the  sub-freshman 
class  was  expanded  into  a  sub-freshman  course  of  three  years, 
owing  to  the  raising  of  the  standard  of  admission  to  certain  of 
the  professions.  The  full  course,  therefore,  includes  three 
years  of  preparatory  work  and  four  years  of  collegiate  work. 
To  the  sub-freshman  course  graduates  of  the  public  schools  are 
admitted  without  examination. 

In  the  collegiate  department  five  courses  may  be  pursued : 
language  course,  classical ;  language  course,  Latin  and  French ; 
language  course,  modern;  scientific  course;  scientific  course, 
mechanical.  The  faculty  includes  a  professor  of  German  lan- 
guage and  literature,  a  professor  of  physics,  a  professor  of 
Latin  language  and  literature,  a  professor  of  Greek  language 
and  literature,  a  professor  of  history,  a  professor  of  natural 
history,  a  professor  of  French  language  and  literature,  a  pro- 
fessor of  moral  and  intellectual  philosophy,  a  professor  of 
English  language  and  literature,  a  professor  of  descriptive 
geometry  and  drawing,  a  professor  of  chemistry,  a  professor 
of  mathematics,  and  twelve  assistant  professors.  There  are  in 
the  College  some  forty  instructors  and  about  seventy  tutors. 

An  act  passed  in  1882  opened  the  college  to  all  male  persons 
residing  in  the  city  of  New  York  who  should  pass  the  pre- 
scribed examination  for  admission,  thus  doing  away  with  the 
requirement  of  one  year's  attendance  in  the  common  schools. 


324  The  New  York  Public  School 

A  change  of  considerable  importance  in  the  government  of 
the  College  was  made  in  1900,  when  it  was  removed  from  the 
control  of  the  Board  of  Education  and  placed  under  a  separate 
Board  of  Trustees,  consisting  of  nine  members,  appointed  by 
the  Mayor.  The  full  term  of  membership  is  nine  years.  The 
new  Board  of  Trustees  entered  upon  its  duties  on  July  i,  1900. 
An  official  connection  between  the  College  and  the  Board  of 
Education  is  found  in  the  statutory  provision  that  the  President 
of  that  Board  shall  be,  ex  officio,  a  Trustee  of  the  College. 
Until  1903  the  President  of  the  College  remained  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Trustees  by  virtue  of  his  office. 

In  1902  an  act  was  passed  providing  for  the  retirement  on 
pension  of  the  President,  professors,  assistant  professors,  and 
instructors  of  the  College,  after  a  specified  term  of  service  and 
on  other  prescribed  conditions.  The  retirement  fund  consists 
of  a  percentage  of  the  excise  moneys  allotted  for  the  purpose. 
Five  members  of  the  faculty  have  since  been  retired. 

In  the  fifty-six  years  since  the  institution  was  established, 
nearly  30,000  students  have  been  admitted  to  it.  The  number 
of  graduates  has  been  2730. 

The  library  of  the  College  includes  nearly  40,000  volumes. 
The  books  have  been  purchased  with  the  money  apportioned  to 
the  College,  while  known  as  the  Free  Academy,  as  its  share  of 
the  Literature  Fund  of  the  State ;  with  the  income  of  a  fund  of 
$5000  bequeathed  by  Mr.  Ephraim  Holbrook;  with  the  income 
of  $30,000  bequeathed  by  Mr.  Seth  M.  Grosvenor,  and  with 
money  appropriated  from  time  to  time  by  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees. Many  books  have  been  presented  by  members  of  the 
faculty,  alumni,  and  other  friends.  A  number  of  prizes  and 
medals  are  awarded  annually  to  incite  the  students  to  do  their 
best  work. 

Dr.  Webster  remained  at  the  head  of  the  institution  until 
1869,  when  he  resigned.  His  successor  was  General  Alexander 
S.  Webb,  who,  like  Dr.  Webster,  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point. 
General  Webb  was  retired  on  a  pension  in  1902,  and,  pend- 


The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York          325 

ing  the  election  of  his  successor,  Professor  Alfred  G.  Compton, 
who  was  a  member  of  the  first  class  graduated  from  the  Free 
Academy,  and  who  has  ever  since  been  connected  with  the 
institution  as  instructor  and  professor,  served  as  Acting  Presi- 
dent. In  1903,  Dr.  John  H.  Finley,  professor  of  politics  in 
Princeton  University,  was  made  President. 

In  1899  the  College  building  became  so  crowded  that  apart- 
ments in  the  neighborhood  were  rented  to  provide  more  room, 
and  two  annexes  are  now  leased.  Many  years  before  the  date 
just  given,  however,  a  movement  to  secure  a  larger  site  and 
more  adequate  buildings  was  started.  In  1866  it  was  deter- 
mined to  obtain  a  new  site  north  of  Fortieth  street,  and,  in 
accordance  with  an  act  of  the  Legislature  passed  in  that 
year,  the  Board  of  Trustees  designated  as  a  site  the  block  'on 
which  the  Seventh  Regiment  armory  now  stands.  The  Com- 
missioners of  the  Sinking  Fund  disapproved  the  selection,  on 
the  ground  that  the  site  was  too  small,  and  recommended  Res- 
ervoir (now  Bryant)  Square  or  Mount  Morris  Square.  The 
Trustees  then  chose  Reservoir  Square,  but  opposition  was 
aroused  to  its  use  for  the  purpose  proposed,  and  in  1871  an 
act  of  the  Legislature  released  that  square  "  from  any  claims  of 
the  Board  of  Education  for  the  Free  College  of  said  city,  so 
that  said  square  shall  only  be  used  for  a  public  square  or  park." 
A  little  relief  was  given  by  the  erection  of  an  addition  to  the 
College  building  in  1870,  and  another  small  addition  was  made 
some  years  later. 

The  Associate  Alumni,  in  1892,  addressed  a  memorial  to  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  calling  attention  to  the  pressing  need  of  a 
more  convenient  and  spacious  site  and  suitable  buildings.  The 
interest  of  the  Trustees  was  enlisted,  and  with  their  aid  a  law 
was  finally  enacted,  in  1895,  authorizing  the  acquisition  of  a 
site  and  the  erection  of  new  buildings.  A  most  eligible  site 
was  selected  on  St.  Nicholas  Heights,  extending  from  One 
hundred  and  thirty-eighth  to  One  hundred  and  fortieth  street, 
and  after  prolonged  condemnation  proceedings  the  property 


326  The  New   York  Public  School 

was  at  length  secured.  Plans  for  the  buildings  were  in  the 
mean  time  prepared,  and  in  1903  funds  were  granted  which 
enabled  building  operations  to  be  begun.  On  September  2Qth 
the  corner-stone  was  laid,  and  two  of  the  buildings  are  now  so 
well  advanced  that,  according  to  present  expectations,  the  colle- 
giate department  will  be  removed  from  the  old  building  within 
a  few  months.  Several  million  dollars  have  been  appropriated 
by  the  municipality  for  the  new  buildings,  which  promise  to  be 
a  notable  addition  to  the  city's  architecture,  and  which  will  fit- 
tingly house  the  students  that  overcrowd  the  present  edifice. 
It  is  a  striking  testimony  to  the  excellence  of  the  institution 
that,  notwithstanding  inadequate  accommodations  in  the  past, 
it  has  educated  so  large  a  number  of  men  who  have«  become 
prominent  in  civil  and  military  life,  in  commerce,  in  the  learned 
professions,  in  science,  letters,  and  education.  Were  it  not  in- 
vidious to  name  individuals,  the  list  of  distinguished  alumni 
which  might  be  given  would  be  a  long  one.  The  College  was 
modelled  in  large  part  on  the  lines  of  the  United  States  Military 
Academy,  and  its  graduates  have  been  aptly  termed  by  a  high 
authority  "the  West  Pointers  of  American  college  men." 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 
THE  NORMAL  COLLEGE 

IN  Chapter  XIX  a  brief  account  was  given  of  the  genesis  of 
the  Normal  College.  In  1869,  after  several  years  of  discussion 
and  delay  on  account  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  Board  of 
Education,  it  was  determined  to  take  advantage  of  the  provision 
of  the  law  enacted  in  1854  authorizing  the  Board  of  Education 
"to  continue  the  existing  Free  Academy  and  to  organize  a 
similar  institution  for  females."  At  this  time  the  only  oppor- 
tunity for  girls  to  pursue  any  studies  beyond  the  regular 
grammar  school  course  was  afforded  by  the  supplementary 
classes  which  had  been  established  in  a  number  of  schools  by 
authority  of  the  ward  Trustees.  In  visiting  the  schools  certain 
members  of  the  Board  saw  that  not  a  few  teachers  were  poorly 
qualified  for  the  work  of  instruction,  and  at  once  perceived  the 
necessity  for  a  special  institution  for  the  education  and  training 
of  teachers. 

It  was  therefore  decided  to  establish  a  Female  Normal  and 
High  School,  and  the  school  was  opened  in  February,  1870,  in 
rented  quarters  at  the  southeast  corner  of  Broadway  and  Fourth 
street.  In  the  following  year  it  became  the  Normal  College. 
It  then  became  necessary  to  secure  land  and  erect  a  building. 
The  first  intention  was  to  place  the  building  on  property  owned 
by  the  city  adjoining  the  Forty-second  street  reservoir  (now 
Bryant  Square),  but  opposition  to  this  plan  was  manifested  by 
some  of  the  city  officials,  and  it  was  vetoed  by  the  Legislature. 
The  Legislature  in  1871,  however,  authorized  the  issue  of 
Normal  School  Fund  Stock  of  the  City  of  New  York  "  to  an 

327 


328  The  New  York  Public  School 

amount  not  exceeding  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  to  be 
expended  by  the  said  Board  of  Education  in  the  erection  of 
a  suitable  building  in  the  city  of  New  York  for  the  Normal 
College." 

As  a  site  for  the  College  building,  the  city  set  aside  Hamilton 
Square,  200  X  400  feet  in  dimensions,  bounded  by  Park  and  Lex- 
ington avenues,  Sixty-eighth  and  Sixty-ninth  streets.  The  build- 
ing was  completed  in  1874,  at  a  cost  of  $350,000,  the  original 
appropriation  of  $200,000  not  being  sufficient. 

When  the  Normal  College  was  started,  a  course  of  study 
extending  over  three  years,  the  usual  normal  course  at  that 
time,  was  established,  and  a  President,  Vice-President,  and 
staff  of  instructors  were  appointed.  In  order  that  the  best 
methods  might  be  introduced,  the  President  and  Vice-President 
were  deputed  by  the  Board  of  Education  to  visit  other  cities 
and  examine  into  the  systems  of  normal  training  in  New  York 
and  neighboring  States,  and  several  months  were  spent  in  this 
way  before  the  school  was  opened.  In  point  of  numbers  the 
institution  was  a  success  from  the  beginning.  All  the  supple- 
mentary classes  of  girls  were  transferred  from  the  grammar 
schools  to  the  Normal  College,  and  the  preparation  of  women 
teachers  for  the  schools  was  confined  to  the  new  institution. 
As  a  result,  the  schools  of  the  city  were  quickly  supplied  with 
a  large  number  of  better  equipped  teachers  than  they  had  had 
before ;  in  fact,  in  a  few  years  the  supply  exceeded  the 
demand. 

In  1879,  in  spite  of  much  opposition  on  the  part  of  parents 
and  others,  the  course  of  study  was  extended  to  four  years. 
Before  this  time,  the  Training  Department  Building,  at  the 
Lexington  avenue  end  of  the  plot  on  which  the  College  building 
stood,  had  been  erected  for  practice  work  in  teaching,  and  a 
school  containing  several  hundred  children  was  conducted 
there.  The  new  course  embraced  three  years  of  academic 
work  and  one  year  of  practice. 

The  year  1888  marked  the  beginning  of  a  new  era  in  the 


The  Normal  College  329 

history  of  the  College,  for  in  that  year  it  was  made  a  separate 
and  distinct  corporation,  under  the  control  of  a  Board  of 
Trustees,  consisting  of  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Education 
and  the  President  of  the  College,  with  power  to  confer  col- 
legiate degrees  and  to  exercise  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
a  college.  This  method  of  administration  has  continued  to  the 
present  time,  although  several  attempts  have  been  made  to 
dissociate  the  College  from  the  Board  of  Education  and  provide 
for  it  a  separate  Board  of  Trustees.  The  general  control  of 
the  institution  is,  under  the  statute,  in  the  hands  of  an  Execu- 
tive Committee  for  the  care,  government,  and  management  of 
the  College,  which  is  for  all  practical  purposes  the  governing 
body,  its  decisions  rarely,  if  ever,  failing  of  ratification  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees. 

About  the  time  the  change  last  mentioned  was  made  the 
course  of  study  in  the  College  was  raised  from  four  to  five 
years ;  but  the  degrees  granted  by  the  College  on  the  comple- 
tion of  the  course  of  that  length  were  not  recognized  by  the 
Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

After  the  reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1902, 
the  Executive  Committee  appointed  for  the  Normal  College, 
believing  the  five-year  course  of  study,  the  first  four  years  of 
which  were  of  similar  grade  to  the  four-year  courses  pursued  in 
the  high  schools,  to  be  inadequate,  took  prompt  action  to  raise  the 
standard  of  the  College.  In  September,  1902,  there  was  estab- 
lished a  collegiate  course  occupying  seven  years,  leading  to  the 
regular  bachelor's  degree  (recognized,  of  course,  by  the  Regents), 
and  also  a  professional  course  of  six  years  of  high  school  and  colle- 
giate work  and  preparation  for  the  teaching  profession.  By  spe- 
cial arrangement  with  the  Board  of  Regents,  a  supplementary  or 
sixth-year  class  was  established  at  that  time,  to  be  continued 
until  the  first  class  pursuing  the  regular  course  reaches  senior 
grade.  Students  who  had  entered  upon  the  old  five-year 
course  were  given  the  option  of  taking  the  supplementary 
year,  and  a  large  number  availed  themselves  of  the  privilege 


330  The  New  York  Public  School 

in  1903  and  1904,  and  thus  received  a  bachelor's  degree  recog- 
nized by  the  Regents.  This  degree  is  also  registered  by  the 
Regents  as  complying  with  the  requirements  of  the  Court  of 
Appeals  relating  to  collegiate  degrees,  and  secures  to  these 
graduates  all  the  immunities  which  the  holders  of  degrees  are 
entitled  to  in  preparing  for  various  professions. 

In  1903  the  Normal  College  High  School  was  established  as 
a  separate  department  (although  conducted  in  the  same  build- 
ing), and  admitted  to  the  University  of  the  State  as  a  regular 
high  school,  thus  becoming  entitled  to  receive  a  quota  of  the 
Regents'  Academic  Fund. 

A  law  was  enacted  in  1903  allowing  the  professors  and 
teachers  in  the  Normal  College,  under  certain  conditions,  to 
share  in  the  Public  School  Teachers'  Retirement  Fund,  and 
several  teachers  have  since  been  retired  on  pension. 

A  sketch  of  the  Normal  College  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out some  mention  of  the  two  men  who  more  than  any  others 
were  instrumental  in  its  establishment  and  responsible  for  its 
success,  namely,  Mr.  William  Wood  and  Dr.  Thomas  Hunter. 
Mr.  Wood  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education 
when  the  "  revolution  "  of  1869  occurred  ;  he  served  as  a  mem- 
ber for  eighteen  years,  and  from  1876  to  1879  held  the  office  of 
President.  As  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  Normal,  Even- 
ing, and  Colored  Schools  in  his  early  days  in  the  Board,  he  took 
a  most  eager  interest  in  the  establishment  of  the  school  which 
quickly  developed  into  the  Normal  College.  He  aided  largely  in 
securing  the  College  building,  and  his  active  interest  in  the 
institution  and  his  efforts  to  secure  its  advancement  never 
ceased.  Dr.  Hunter  has  been  identified  with  every  step  in  the 
history  of  the  College,  having  been  its  President  from  its  founda- 
tion. He  went  to  the  Normal  and  High  School  from  the  princi- 
palship  of  Grammar  School  35.  He  was  also  the  principal  of  the 
first  evening  high  school  established  in  New  York.  He  came  to 
this  country  from  Ireland  in  1850,  and  immediately  entered  upon 
the  work  of  teaching,  receiving  at  the  beginning  the  modest 


The  Normal  College  331 

compensation  of  $300  per  annum.     His  connection  with  public 
education  in  this  city  extends  over  nearly  fifty-five  years. 

The  faculty  of  the  Normal  College  consists  of  a  President, 
who  is  professor  of  psychology  and  pedagogy,  and  of  professors 
of  mathematics  and  physical  science,  French  language  and  litera- 
ture, German  language  and  literature,  natural  science,  Latin  and 
Greek,  music,  ethics,  English  literature,  and  pedagogy.  There  are 
•seven  associate  professors  and  upwards  of  sixty  instructors.  In 
the  Training  Department,  besides  the  Superintendent,  there  are 
nearly  thirty  instructors. 


CHAPTER   XXXIX 
SCHOOL  LIBRARIES 

THE  Free  School  Society  had  not  been  in  existence  long, 
and  had  opened  only  its  first  school,  when,  in  December,  1810, 
it  appropriated  $  i oo  to  establish  a  circulating  library  for  the 
benefit  of  the  pupils.  In  1818,  when  four  schools  were  in 
operation,  it  was  decided  to  place  books  to  the  value  of  $50  in 
each  school,  the  libraries  to  consist  of  "  suitable  books  of 
voyages,  travels,  history,  &c." ;  but  only  pupils  showing  good 
progress  and  behaving  well  (constituting  a  "  class  of  merit "  ) 
were  to  be  admitted  as  members  of  the  library.  It  was  provided 
that  religious  books  containing  sectarian  principles  should  be 
excluded,  but  other  religious  books  approved  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  were  to  be  admitted.  The  schools  established  later 
by  the  Society  were  also  equipped  with  libraries  on  a  small 
scale.  In  1835  an  attempt  was  made  to  establish  a  library  for 
the  use  of  the  Trustees  and  teachers,  but  sufficient  interest  was 
not  aroused  to  assure  its  success. 

In  1838  an  act  of  the  Legislature  was  passed,  providing  for 
the  expenditure  of  $55,000  annually  for  three  years  for  establish- 
ing district  school  libraries  throughout  the  State.  The  first  step 
toward  this  end  had  been  taken  ten  years  earlier,  when  Gov- 
ernor De  Witt  Clinton,  in  his  last  message  as  Governor,  advocated 
the  establishment  of  school  libraries.  New  York  State  was  the 
pioneer  in  the  movement,  which  was  effectively  forwarded  by 
John  A.  Dix,  Secretary  of  State  and  ex  officio  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools  from  1833  to  l839-  The  law  of  1838  was 
extended  by  subsequent  enactments.  The  appropriation  was  at 
first  used  only  for  books,  but  about  1843  permission  was  granted 

332 


School  Libraries  333 

by  the  State  to  apply  it  either  for  school  libraries  or  for  the 
payment  of  teachers'  salaries.  As  a  result,  the  money  was 
expended  largely  thereafter  for  salary  purposes,  and  the  libraries 
were  neglected  until  about  the  year  1860,  when  the  State  pro- 
hibited the  use  of  moneys  drawn  from  this  fund  for  any  other 
purpose  than  the  purchase  of  books. 

In  1875  the  bequest  of  Mr.  Ephraim  Holbrook  of  the  sum 
of  $250  to  be  "  applied  to  the  purchase  of  books  for  the  establish- 
ment or  increase  of  a  suitable  school  library  "  for  each  of  the 
ward  schools  in  New  York  City  became  available.  Thereupon 
the  so-called  Holbrook  libraries  were  provided  in  the  schools 
then  in  existence. 

By  a  change  in  the  Library  Law  made  in  1892,  increased 
funds  for  library  purposes  were  granted  by  the  State,  on  con- 
dition that  an  equal  sum  should  be  raised  by  the  local  authorities 
for  the  purchase  of  library  books.  New  York  City's  first  ap- 
propriation from  the  State  under  this  enactment  was  received 
in  1894. 

In  Brooklyn  there  were  libraries  in  the  district  schools  at  the 
time  of  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Education,  in  1843. 
The  earliest  printed  report  (so  far  as  known)  of  the  City  Super- 
intendent of  Schools,  for  July,  1848,  stated  that  there  were 
libraries  in  twelve  schools,  containing  12,967  volumes,  and 
called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  libraries  were  "  designed  not 
only  for  the  children  of  the  city  indiscriminately,  but  for  all 
other  persons  of  their  respective  districts  capable  of  perusing 
them."  The  annual  report  of  the  same  official  for  1850  referred 
to  the  provision  of  the  law  under  which  the  Board  of  Education 
was  permitted  to  apply  moneys  received  for  libraries  to  the  pay- 
ment of  teachers'  wages  or  to  the  purchase  of  school  books  for 
gratuitous  use  by  pupils  in  the  public  schools.  The  number  of 
volumes  in  the  school  libraries  at  the  end  of  1853  was  upwards 
of  20,000,  and  by  1855  (the  year  in  which  William sburgh  and 
Bushwick  were  consolidated  with  Brooklyn)  it  had  increased  to 
about  30,000. 


334  The  Areic   York  Public  School 

An  interesting  movement  took  place  in  1866,  when,  with 
the  approval  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education,  the  "  local 
committees  "  of  five  schools  in  the  Eastern  District  decided  to 
consolidate  the  libraries  of  those  schools  and  form  one  general 
library  for  the  use  of  the  school  children  and  the  people  in  that 
section  of  the  city.  The  building  previously  used  by  Public 
School  1 6,  at  South  Third  and  Fifth  streets  (the  latter  being 
now  known  as  Driggs  avenue),  was  fitted  up  for  library  pur- 
poses, and  the  library  was  opened  with  7200  volumes.  The 
Eastern  District  Library,  as  it  was  called,  was  maintained  by  the 
school  authorities  until  1897,  when,  with  some  18,000  volumes, 
it  was  taken  over  by  the  Brooklyn  Public  Library  ;  the  building 
was  then  refitted  for  school  purposes,  and  in  it  the  Eastern  Dis- 
trict High  School  was  opened  in  1899.  In  the  mean  time  the 
school  libraries  in  the  remainder  of  Brooklyn  fell  into  "  a  sad 
state  of  dilapidation  and  decay." 1 

The  matter  of  establishing  class  libraries  was  taken  up  in 
New  York  City  in  1897,  and  at  the  end  of  the  school  year  in 
July,  1898,  there  were  2742  class  libraries,  containing  87,660 
volumes.  About  this  time  sundry  public  libraries  in  the  city 
began  to  supply  so-called  travelling  libraries  to  many  schools  in 
Manhattan  and  The  Bronx.  Among  those  especially  active  in 
supplying  reading  for  children  and  reference  books  for  teachers 
were  the  Aguilar  Library,  the  Cathedral  Library,  and  the 
Webster  Free  Library.  The  books  were  selected  from  lists 
authorized  by  the  Board  of  Education.  In  1900  an  attempt  was 
made  to  bring  about  co-operation  between  the  New  York  Public 
Library  and  the  Manhattan-Bronx  School  Board,  and  for  a 
short  time  reading  rooms  and  circulating  libraries  were  con- 
ducted in  a  number  of  school  buildings.  The  books  were 
furnished  by  the  Public  Library,  and  the  care  and  distribution 
of  them  assumed  by  the  School  Board. 

Soon  after  the  reorganization  of  the  school  system  in  1902, 
it  was  determined  to  establish  classroom  libraries  for  the 

1  Annual  report  of  the  President  of  the  Brooklyn  Board  of  Education,  1892  (p.  35). 


ITY 


335 

elementary  schools  of  the  entire  city,  and  in  July  of  that 
year  a  Bureau  of  Libraries  was  organized  for  this  purpose. 
In  the  following  February  a  Superintendent  of  Libraries  was 
appointed.  The  plan  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Education  was 
to  place  in  each  classroom  from  thirty  to  fifty  books  suited 
to  the  intellectual  capacity  of  the  pupils,  in  order  to  give  them 
a  taste  for  good  reading  while  still  in  school  and  to  enable 
them  to  make  intelligent  use  of  the  public  libraries.  The 
library  moneys  had  accumulated  for  several  years,  and  there 
was  a  considerable  fund  in  hand;  and  as  the  result  of  its 
expenditure  there  are  now  in  the  elementary  schools  of  New 
York  City  7981  class  libraries,  containing  246,148  books,  or  an 
average  of  thirty  per  class.  Each  of  the  schools  (or  depart- 
ments) is  also  provided  with  a  reference  or  teachers'  library,  the 
total  number  of  volumes  being  113,412.  The  entire  number  of 
books  in  the  public  school  libraries  of  the  city  is  therefore 
359,560.  During  the  school  year  1903-1904  the  number  of 
books  issued  from  the  class  libraries  for  home  use  was  2,308,601. 
These  books  are  used  by  the  parents  as  well  as  the  children,  and 
in  neighborhoods  where  many  parents  are  foreign-born  teachers 
report  that  the  books  are  a  valuable  medium  for  the  teaching  of 
English,  as  the  children  are  encouraged  to  read  them  aloud  to 
their  fathers  and  mothers. 

The  Bureau  of  Libraries  has  issued  a  graded  and  annotated 
catalogue  of  books  approved  for  use  in  the  public  school 
libraries,  which  is  valuable  as  a  guide  to  teachers  in  making 
then-  selections. 


CHAPTER  XL 

PERSONAL  AND  BIOGRAPHICAL 

I  —  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOL  SOCIETY 

i 

DE  WITT   CLINTON 
May  6,  1805,  to  February  n,  1828 

DE  WITT  CLINTON  was  born  at  Little  Britain,  Orange 
County,  N.  Y.,  March  2,  1769,  and  died  at  Albany,  Feb- 
ruary 11,  1828.  He  was  graduated  from  Columbia  College  in 
1786,  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1788.  In 
1790  he  became  private  secretary  to  his  uncle,  George  Clinton, 
then  Governor  of  New  York ;  he  was  also  made  one  of  the 
secretaries  of  the  Board  of  Regents,  and  secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  State  Fortifications.  He  was  chosen  a 
member  of  the  Assembly  in  1797,  and  from  1798  to  1802  was 
a  member  of  the  State  Senate.  In  1802  he  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  Senate,  but  resigned  in  the  same  year  to  take 
the  office  of  Mayor  of  New  York  City,  to  which  his  uncle,  then 
Governor  for  the  second  time,  appointed  him.  The  Mayor  at 
that  time  was  a  very  important  officer,  being  also  President  of 
the  Council  and  Chief  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas. 
Mr.  Clinton  held  the  office  of  Mayor  until  1815,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  years  1807-1809  and  1810-1811.  He  was  also  State 
Senator  from  1805  to  1811,  and  Lieutenant-Governor  from  1811 
to  1813.  In  1805  he  became  interested  in  the  movement  which 
led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Free  School  Society.  He  was 
elected  President  of  the  Society,  and  held  the  office  throughout 
his  life.  In  other  movements  for  the  good  of  the  city  and  the 

336 


Personal  and  Biographical  337 

community  he  took  an  active  part,  as  in  the  amelioration  of 
the  criminal  laws,  the  relief  of  suffering,  the  encouragement 
of  agriculture,  and  the  correction  of  vice.  In  1809  he  was 
appointed  one  of  seven  Commissioners  to  select  a  route  for  a 
canal  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Hudson.  In  January,  1815,  he 
was  removed  from  the  Mayoralty,  and  immediately  devoted  his 
energies  to  the  canal  project.  A  bill  providing  for  the  Erie 
Canal  was  passed  in  1817,  and  in  that  year  Clinton  was  elected 
Governor.  He  was  re-elected  in  1819,  but  in  1822  declined  to 
be  a  candidate.  In  1824  his  opponents  secured  his  removal 
from  the  office  of  Canal  Commissioner.  This  created  a  storm 
of  popular  indignation,  and  in  1825  he  was  elected  Governor  by 
an  unprecedented  majority.  He  held  the  office  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  The  Erie  Canal,  which  was  opened  on  October  25, 
1825,  is  considered  the  greatest  of  his  achievements.  Mr. 
Clinton  was  a  profound  believer  in  the  Lancasterian  system 
of  instruction.  His  connection  with  public  education  in  New 
York  is  perpetuated  in  the  name  of  the  De  Witt  Clinton  High 
School.  Two  portraits  of  Mr.  Clinton  hang  in  the  meeting 
room  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

ii 

HENRY   RUTGERS 
May  12,  1828,  to  February  17,  1830 

Henry  Rutgers  was  born  in  New  York  City,  October  7, 
1745,  and  died  February  17,  1830.  He  was  graduated  from 
Kings  (afterwards  Columbia)  College  in  1766.  During  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  he  entered  the  army,  and  served  as  Captain  at 
the  battle  of  White  Plains.  Subsequently  he  attained  the  rank 
of  Colonel  in  the  State  militia.  He  was  elected  to  the  State 
Legislature  in  1784,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  several 
years.  He  was  a  Regent  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New 
York  from  1802  to  1826.  In  1806  he  gave  to  the  Free  School 
Society  two  lots  in  Henry  street,  on  which  the  second  school- 


338  The  New  York  Public  School 

house  of  the  Society  was  erected  in  1811.  Colonel  Rutgers 
became  a  Trustee  of  the  Society  in  1810.  He  was  liberal  in  his 
contributions  of  land  for  churches,  charitable  institutions,  etc. 
Rutgers  street  was  named  for  him.  He  was  a  benefactor  of 
Queens  College,  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.  This  institution  was 
established  in  1 766  ;  during  the  Revolutionary  War  it  was  closed, 
and  afterward  it  was  suspended  twice  for  lack  of  funds.  In 
1825  Colonel  Rutgers  gave  the  College  $5000.  In  recognition 
of  his  liberality  the  institution  took  his  name. 

m 

PETER   AUGUSTUS   JAY 
May  10,  1830,  to  May  8,  1837 

Peter  Augustus  Jay  was  born  at  Elizabethtown,  N.  J., 
January  24,  1776,  and  died  in  New  York  City,  February  20, 
1843.  After  being  graduated  from  Columbia  College,  he  studied 
law,  and  soon  attained  distinction  in  his  profession.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Assembly  in  1816,  Recorder  of  New  York  City 
in  1819-1821,  and  a  member  of  the  State  Constitutional  Con- 
vention in  1821.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  Columbia  College  in 
1812-1817  and  1823-1843,  and  served  as  Chairman  of  its  Board 
of  Trustees  in  1832.  His  official  connection  with  the  Public 
School  Society  extended  only  over  the  period  of  his  Presidency. 
Mr.  Jay  was  President  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society  from 
1840  to  1843.  He  received  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from  Harvard 
College  in  1831  and  from  Columbia  in  1835. 

rv 

ROBERT    C.    CORNELL 
May  8,  1837,  to  May  20,  1845 

Robert  Comfort  Cornell  died  in  New  York  City,  May  20, 
1845,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Society 
of  Friends  and  a  public-spirited  citizen.  He  filled  several  places 


Personal  and  Biographical  339 

of  trust,  among  them  that  of  Receiver-General  under  the  Sub- 
Treasury  Law.  For  several  years  he  served  as  Alderman  of  the 
Fifth  Ward.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  President  of  the 
Farmers'  Loan  and  Trust  Company,  of  the  Public  School 
Society,  and  of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Institution.  He  also  held 
prominent  offices  in  the  New  York  Hospital  and  the  House  of 
Refuge.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  the  Public  School  Society  from 
1820  to  his  death,  and  Vice-President  from  1830  to  1837. 


LINDLEY   MURRAY 
January  12,  1846,  to  January  u,  1847 

Lindley  Murray  was  born  in  New  York  City  January  5,  1790, 
and  died  at  St.  Thomas,  W.  I.,  May  16,  1847.  He  was  a  son  of 
John  Murray,  Jr.,  at  whose  house  in  Pearl  street  was  held,  on 
February  19,  1805,  the  meeting  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
the  Free  School  Society,  and  a  nephew  of  Lindley  Murray,  the 
grammarian.  Mr.  Murray's  grandfather,  Robert  Murray,  was  a 
prominent  merchant  in  New  York,  and  Murray  Hill,  where  he 
had  his  country  residence,  about  three  miles  from  the  city,  was 
named  for  him.  Mr.  Murray  was  engaged  in  the  wholesale 
drug  business  in  New  York.  He  was  elected  a  Trustee  of  the 
Public  School  (Free  School)  Society  in  1816  and  remained  as 
such  until  his  death.  He  was  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trustees 
from  1818  to  1837. 

VI 

GEORGE   T.    TRIMBLE 
January  II,  1847,  to  August  I,  1853 

George  T.  Trimble  died  in  New  York  City,  May  17,  1872,  in 
his  seventy-ninth  year.  He  was  attached  to  the  Society  of 
Friends,  and  acquired  ample  means  through  successful  mercan- 
tile pursuits.  He  was  a  trustee  of  the  Public  School  (Free 


34O  The  New  York  Public  School 

School)  Society  from  i8i8to  185 3,  Treasurer  from  1820  to  1830, 
and  Vice-President  in  1846-1847.  He  was  connected  with  a 
number  of  financial  institutions,  and  was  one  of  the  Governors  of 
the  New  York  Hospital.  A  large  oil  painting  of  Mr.  Trimble 
is  conspicuous  in  the  Board  of  Education  meeting  room. 

II — PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 


GEORGE   W.    STRONG 
June  23,  1842,  to  May  31,  1843 

George  Washington  Strong  was  born  in  New  York  City, 
January  20,  1783,  and  died  June  27,  1855.  He  was  graduated 
from  Yale  College  in  1803,  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to  the 
New  York  bar.  In  the  legal  profession  he  attained  an  eminent 
rank.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  all  adjudged  cases  in  Eng- 
land and  this  country,  and  was  a  master  of  legal  practice  in  all 
departments.  In  1842  he  was  elected  a  Commissioner  of  Com- 
mon Schools  from  the  First  Ward  for  the  term  of  one  year,  and 
upon  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Education  was  elected 
President.  In  1841  he  was  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners of  School  Money. 

n 

THOMAS    JEREMIAH 
June  20,  1843,  to  MaY  3T>  l844 


Thomas  Jeremiah  was  born  in  New  York  City,  April  27, 
1793,  and  died  December  2,  1872.  He  was  an  energetic  busi- 
ness man  and  early  in  life  accumulated  a  handsome  fortune. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  1828-1831  and 
1838.  He  was  elected  County  Clerk  in  1834,  and  served  as  a 
member  of  the  State  Assembly  in  1844.  For  many  years  he 


Personal  and  Biographical  341 

was  President  of  the  Bowery  Savings  Bank,  of  which  he  was 
one  of  the  incorporators.  He  was  also  an  incorporator  of  the 
Pacific  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  New  York,  and  served  as 
its  President.  He  was  a  member  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society.  He  was  elected  a  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools 
at  the  first  election  for  school  officers  held  after  the  passage 
of  the  law  providing  for  the  Board  of  Education,  and  served 
as  a  member  of  the  Board  in  1842-1844.  The  Board  of  Edu- 
cation possesses  an  oil  painting  of  Mr.  Jeremiah,  which  is  in 
the  Board  Room. 

in 

GERARDUS    CLARK 
June  12,  1844,  to  May  31,  1845 

Gerardus  Clark  was  born  at  New  Milford,  Conn.,  in  1786, 
and  died  in  New  York  City  in  1860.  He  was  a  lawyer  by  pro- 
fession and  for  many  years  was  attorney  for  the  Trinity  Church 
Corporation.  He  served  as  a  vestryman  of  Trinity  Church  and 
as  a  warden  of  St.  Mark's  Church.  He  was  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  Board  of  Education,  having  been  elected  a 
Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  from  the  Fifteenth  Ward  in 
1842,  and  was  a  member  until  May,  1845. 

rv 

ISAAC   A.   JOHNSON 
June  1 8,  1845, to  May  3T>  l846 

Isaac  A.  Johnson,  like  two  of  his  predecessors,  Mr.  Strong 
and  Mr.  Clark,  was  a  lawyer.  He  was  successful  in  his  profes- 
sion and  highly  respected  by  his  associates.  He  was  elected  a 
Commissioner  of  Common  Schools  in  1842,  serving  as  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education  at  its  organization,  and  was  re-elected 
by  his  fellow-citizens  of  the  Third  Ward  two  years  later. 


342  The  New  York  Public  School 


TOWNSEND    HARRIS 
June,  1846,  to  January  26,  1848 

Townsend  Harris  was  born  at  Sandy  Hill,  Washington 
County,  N.  Y.,  October  3,  1803,  and  died  in  New  York  City, 
February  25,  1878.  He  came  to  New  York  at  the  age  of 
fourteen  and  engaged  in  business.  He  served  as  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Education  in  1842-1844  and  1846-1848.  While 
in  the  Board  of  Education  he  took  a  leading  part  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Free  Academy  (now  the  College  of  the  City  of  New 
York).  In  July,  1846,  he  introduced  the  first  resolution  on  the 
subject  and  was  made  chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Inquiry. 
He  was  also  chairman  of  the  committee  appointed  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  to  present  a  memorial  to  the  Legislature,  which 
resulted  in  the  passage  of  the  law  authorizing  the  Academy. 
In  1854  he  was  appointed  United  States  Consul  at  Ning-Po, 
China.  He  was  subsequently  appointed  the  first  United  States 
Minister  to  Japan,  and  in  1858  induced  the  Emperor  of  Japan 
to  conclude  a  treaty  with  the  United  States.  Mr.  Harris  was 
also  instrumental  in  negotiating,  in  1856,  a  new  treaty  between 
the  United  States  and  Siam.  He  was  a  man  of  wide  culture, 
sterling  integrity,  and  singularly  upright  character.  He  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Prevention 
of  Cruelty  to  Animals.  Among  the  paintings  in  the  Board 
Room  is  one  of  Mr.  Harris. 

VI 

ROBERT  KELLY 
January  26,  1848,  to  May  31,  1850 

Robert  Kelly  died  in  New  York  City,  April  27,  1856,  at 
the  age  of  forty-seven.  He  was  graduated  from  Columbia 
College  in  1827,  and  immediately  engaged  in  commercial  busi- 
ness, to  which  he  devoted  himself  until  1836,  when  he  retired 


Personal  and  Biographical  343 

with  a  large  fortune.  During  this  period  he  made  himself  the 
master  of  eight  languages.  He  was  at  different  times  a  Regent 
of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  Chamberlain  of 
New  York  City,  President  of  the  House  of  Refuge,  Vice-Presi- 
dent  of  the  Merchants'  Clerks'  Savings  Bank,  director  of  the 
Mechanics'  Bank,  director  of  the  United  States  Trust  Company, 
trustee  of  the  Clinton  Hall  Association,  trustee  of  the  New 
York  Society  Library,  Chairman  of  the  Democratic  General 
City  Committee,  Democratic  State  Committeeman,  trustee  of 
New  York  University  and  of  Madison  and  Rochester  Univer- 
sities, from  the  last  named  of  which  he  received  the  degree 
of  LL.D.  in  1853.  He  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the 
office  of  State  Comptroller.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Education  from  1847  to  l85°»  and  was  especially  interested 
in  the  establishment  of  the  Free  Academy.  At  the  opening 
of  the  Academy  he  presided  and  delivered  an  address.  Mr. 
Kelly's  portrait  ornaments  the  room  in  which  the  Board  of 
Education  holds  its  meetings. 

vn 

ERASTUS    C.    BENEDICT 
June  3,  1850,  to  December  31,  1854 

Erastus  Cornelius  Benedict  was  born  at  Bradford,  Conn., 
March  19,  1800,  and  died  in  New  York  City,  October  22,  1880. 
He  was  a  district  school  teacher  at  the  age  of  sixteen.  He 
was  graduated  from  Williams  College  in  1821,  and  became 
a  principal  and  tutor.  In  1824  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and 
removed  to  New  York  City,  where  he  acquired  a  high  reputation 
in  admiralty  practice.  He  was  elected  a  School  Trustee  in  1842, 
at  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  Board  of  Education.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  Board  in  1849-1854  and  in  1857-1863. 
He  became  a  Regent  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 
in  1855,  and  in  1878  was  made  Chancellor,  holding  that  office  until 
his  death.  He  was  prominent  in  various  charitable  organiza- 


344  The  New  York  Public  School 

tions,  and  a  Governor  of  the  New  York  State  Woman's  Hospital 
from  its  organization.  He  was  a  member  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society,  and  delivered  numerous  addresses  before 
historical  and  scientific  societies,  many  of  which  were  printed. 
He  published  American  Admiralty  (1850),  A  Run  through 
Europe  (1860),  and  The  Mediceval  Hymns  (1861).  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Assembly  in  1844  and  1864.  A  portrait  of  Mr. 
Benedict  occupies  a  place  of  honor  in  the  Board  Room. 

VIII 
WILLIAM   H.    NEILSON 

January  10,  1855,10  January  16,  1856 

January  13,  1858,  to  December  31,  1858 

April  7,  1873,  to  January  12,  1876 

William  Hude  Neilson  died  at  Far  Rockaway,  L.  I.,  Decem- 
ber 30,  1887,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  All  his  life  was  spent 
in  and  around  New  York  City.  He  was  President  of  the  New 
York  Stock  Exchange,  President  of  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph 
Railroad  Company,  a  trustee  of  the  Public  School  Society  from 
1850  to  1853,  and  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  from 
1853  to  1858,  1864-1865,  1867  to  1869,  and  1873  to  1876.  He 
had  the  unique  distinction  of  having  served  as  President  of  the 
Board  at  three  separate  times. 

IX 

ANDREW   H.    GREEN 
January  16,  1856,  to  January  13,  1858 

Andrew  Haswell  Green  was  born  at  Worcester,  Mass.,  October 
6,  1820,  and  died  in  New  York  City,  November  13,  1903.  He 
attended  the  Worcester  Academy  and  was  ready  to  go  to  West 
Point,  when  his  plan  was  changed  and  he  entered  a  commercial 
house  in  this  city  in  1840.  Afterward  he  studied  law,  and  was  a 
partner  of  Samuel  J.  Tilden  until  Mr.  Tilden's  death.  In  1856 


Personal  and  Biographical  345 

he  was  appointed  Commissioner  of  Central  Park,  in  the  creation 
of  which  he  was  very  deeply  concerned.  Upon  the  organization 
of  the  Department  of  Public  Parks  he  became  a  Park  Commis- 
sioner, and  soon  afterward  was  made  President.  That  office  he 
resigned  to  become  Comptroller  of  Central  Park,  an  office 
created  especially  for  him.  On  the  downfall  of  the  Tweed  Ring 
he  was  elected  Comptroller  of  the  city.  He  held  that  office 
from  1871  to  1877  and  was  conspicuous  for  his  efforts  in  the 
direction  of  economy.  He  was  nominated  for  Mayor  on  an 
Independent  Citizens'  ticket  in  1876,  but  withdrew  from  the 
contest.  In  1880  he  was  again  appointed  a  Park  Commissioner; 
in  1 88 1  he  was  made  a  Commissioner  on  the  Revision  of  the 
State  Tax  Law;  in  1883  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Niagara  Park  Commission,  became  its  President,  and  on 
the  expiration  of  his  term  was  reappointed.  From  1890  Mr. 
Green  was  especially  active  in  his  efforts  to  secure  the  consolida- 
tion of  New  York,  Brooklyn,  and  adjacent  territory,  and  he  may 
truthfully  be  described  as  "  The  Father  of  Greater  New  York." 
He  first  conceived  the  idea  of  an  expanded  city  as  long  ago  as 
1866.  He  was  a  director  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art, 
the  Juvenile  Asylum  Society,  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Children,  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  the 
American  Geographical  Society,  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  the  State  Bar  Association,  the 
Worcester  Antiquarian  Society,  the  Museum  of  Natural  History; 
President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Zoological  Garden ; 
a  member  of  the  Scientific  Alliance,  Municipal  Art  Society, 
Sons  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  the  Colonial  Order  ; 
and  a  director  and  trustee  in  a  number  of  railroads,  banking 
institutions,  etc.  He  was  largely  instrumental  in  perfecting 
the  plans  by  which  the  New  York  Public  Library,  Astor,  Lenox, 
and  Tilden  Foundations,  was  established  on  its  present  basis. 
Mr.  Green  may  be  said  to  have  begun  his  public  career  as  a 
promoter  of  the  cause  of  popular  education,  serving  as  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education  from  1855  to  1860,  inclusive,  and  as 


346  The  New  York  Public  School 

its  President  in  1856  and  1857.  In  the  Board  he  was  particu- 
larly interested  in  the  important  questions  of  finance  and 
taxation. 

x 

WILLIAM   H.    NEILSON 

January  13  to  December  31,  1858 

(See  WILLIAM  H.  NEILSON,  under  vm) 

XI 

RICHARD    WARREN 
January  12,  1859,  to  January  n,  1860 

Richard  Warren  was  born  at  Plymouth,  Mass.  As  a 
boy  he  went  to  Boston  and  received  a  practical  business 
training.  He  came  to  New  York  when  about  forty  years  of 
age,  and  acquired  prominence  as  a  successful  auctioneer.  He 
served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  from  1858  to 
1 86 1  and  from  1866  to  1869. 

XII 

WILLIAM    E.  CURTIS 
January  11,  1860,  to  December  31,  1863 

William  Edmond  Curtis  was  born  in  Litchfield  County, 
Conn.,  about  1822,  and  died  at  Watertown,  Conn.,  July 
6,  1880.  He  came  to  New  York  City  early  in  life,  and 
rose  rapidly  in  the  legal  profession.  In  1871  he  was  President 
of  the  New  York  Bar  Association.  A  Democrat  in  politics,  he 
was  in  1871  the  nominee  of  the  Anti-Tammany  Democrats,  the 
Republicans,  and  the  Committee  of  Seventy  for  a  seat  on  the 
Superior  Court  Bench.  He  was  elected  by  a  majority  of  over 
22,000,  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  Chief  Justice  of  that 
Court.  He  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education 
from  1858  to  1863.  His  portrait  hangs  in  the  Board  Room. 


Personal  and  Biographical  347 

XIII 

JAMES  M.  MCLEAN 

January  13,  1864,  to  December  31,  1867 

James  M.  McLean  was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1818  and 
died  May  13,  1890,  at  his  home  in  West  Fifty-seventh  street. 
He  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Guardian  Insurance  Company 
from  1838  to  1845.  He  then  accepted  a  position  as  Secretary 
in  the  old  Williamsburgh  Fire  Insurance  Company.  Soon 
afterward  the  name  was  changed  to  the  Citizens'  Fire  Insurance 
Company,  and  he  was  made  President.  A  few  years  before 
his  death  he  retired  from  that  Company  and  became  President 
of  the  Manhattan  Life  Insurance  Company.  He  was  Vice- 
President  of  the  Union  Trust  Company  and  of  the  Manhattan 
Savings  Institution,  and  a  director  of  the  Citizens'  Bank  and 
the  Citizens'  Insurance  Company.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Education  from  1863  to  1867.  In  the  Board  Room  a 
portrait  of  Mr,  McLean  may  be  seen. 

xrv 

RICHARD    L.  LARREMORE 
January  8,  1868,  to  July  i,  1870 

Richard  Ludlow  Larremore  was  born  at  Astoria,  L.  I., 
September  6,  1830,  and  died  in  New  York  City,  September 
11,  1893.  After  graduating  from  Rutgers  College  in  1850, 
he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1852.  He  was  a  School  Trustee 
for  the  Eleventh  and  Nineteenth  Wards,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Education  in  1862-1863  and  1867-1870.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1867.  In  1870 
he  received  the  degree  of  LL.D.  from  the  University  of  the 
City  of  New  York.  He  was  elected  a  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  on  the  Democratic  ticket  in  1870,  and  in  1876 
Governor  Tilden  assigned  him  to  duty  as  a  Judge  of  the  Su- 


348  The  New  York  Public  School 

preme  Court  in  place  of  Judge  Van  Brunt.  In  1884  he  was 
re-elected  for  another  fourteen-year  term,  but  resigned  in  1891 
on  account  of  ill  health.  For  two  or  three  years  before  resign- 
ing he  was  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas.  At 
the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a  member  of  the  University  Club 
and  the  Bar  Association.  A  portrait  of  Judge  Larremore  was 
hung  in  the  Board  Room  some  years  ago. 

xv 

BERNARD    SMYTH 
July  I,  1870,  to  January  8,  1873 

Bernard  Smyth  was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1820  and 
died  March  7,  1900.  He  left  school  when  thirteen  years  old, 
and  at  the  age  of  nineteen  was  at  the  head  of  a  mercantile 
establishment  of  his  own.  His  business,  which  was  mostly  with 
the  South,  was  practically  ruined  on  the  outbreak  of  the  Rebel- 
lion. During  the  war  he  turned  his  attention  to  finance  and 
was  director  and  trustee  of  several  banks  and  insurance  com- 
panies. He  held  the  office  of  Receiver  of  Taxes  about  this 
time.  After  the  war  he  engaged  in  the  real  estate  business. 
He  became  closely  identified  with  the  public  schools  in  1856, 
when  he  was  elected  a  Trustee  in  his  native  Ward  (the  Seventh). 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1862-1863  and 
1869-1873.  His  portrait  is  displayed  in  its  meeting  room. 

XVI 

JOSIAH    G.  HOLLAND 

/ 

January  8,  1873,  to  APril  5>  l873 


Josiah  Gilbert  Holland  was  born  at  Belchertown,  Hamp- 
shire County,  Mass.,  July  24,  1819,  and  died  in  New  York 
City,  October  12,  1881.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Berkshire 
Medical  College  in  1844,  and  entered  on  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession with  a  classmate  at  Springfield,  Mass.  In  1847  ne 


Personal  and  Biographical  349 

started  a  weekly,  The  Bay  State  Courier,  which  lasted  about 
six  months.  He  then  went  to  Richmond,  Va.,  as  a  teacher 
in  a  private  school,  and  while  there  accepted  a  call  to  act 
as  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  at  Vicksburg,  Miss.  He 
returned  to  Massachusetts  in  1850  and  formed  an  editorial  con- 
nection with  the  Springfield  Republican,  remaining  there  until 
1866.  His  pseudonym,  "Timothy  Titcomb,"  became  famous, 
and  he  was  in  demand  as  a  lecturer  and  public  speaker.  In 
1870  he  assisted  in  founding  Scribner's  Monthly  (afterward 
The  Century),  and  was  its  principal  editor  until  his  death.  He 
published  several  poems,  including  Bitter-Sweet  (1858)  and 
Kathrina  (1868),  and  a  number  of  novels,  Arthur  Bonnicastle 
(1873),  Sevenoaks  (1876),  Nicholas  Minturn  (1877),  etc.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1872-1873. 

XVII 

WILLIAM   H.    NEILSON 

April  7,  1873,  to  January  12,  1876 

(See  WILLIAM  H.  NEILSON,  under  vni) 

XVIII 

WILLIAM   WOOD 
January  12,  1876,  to  December  31,  1879 

William  Wood  was  born  in  Glasgow  in  1808  and  died  in 
New  York  City,  in  October,  1894.  After  entering  Glasgow 
College,  he  went,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  to  St.  Andrew's  and 
attended  classes  in  moral  philosophy  and  mathematics.  Sub- 
sequently he  returned  to  Glasgow  and  re-entered  the  College 
there.  He  also  attended  a  class  in  surgery.  After  completing 
his  studies,  he  entered  on  business  pursuits  in  Glasgow,  and 
later  in  Liverpool.  In  1844  he  engaged  in  business  in  New 
York  City.  On  the  formation  of  the  British  and  American 
Bank  he  assumed  the  management  of  that  institution,  and 


350  The  New  York  Public  School 

retained  it  until  1867,  when  he  retired.  In  May,  1870,  he  was 
made  a  Commissioner  of  Docks,  and  in  the  following  June 
became  a  member  of  the  Commission  on  the  widening  of 
Broadway.  He  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  St. 
Andrew's  Society,  and  its  President  in  1865  and  1866.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1869-1873,  1875-1879, 
and  1881-1888,  and  he  was  especially  interested  in  the  founda- 
tion and  development  of  the  Normal  College. 

XIX 

STEPHEN   A.    WALKER 
January  14,  1880,  to  March  4,  1886 

Stephen  Ambrose  Walker  was  born  at  Brattleboro, 
Vt,  November  2,  1835,  and  died  in  New  York  City,  Feb- 
ruary 5,  1893.  He  was  graduated  from  Middlebury  College 
in  1858,  and  later  from  the  Albany  State  Normal  School. 
After  teaching  school  in  Ohio  and  in  Binghamton,  N.  Y., 
he  studied  law  in  the  office  of  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1861.  During  the  Civil  War  he  served  as 
Paymaster  of  Volunteers  and  was  brevetted  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
Afterward  he  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  from  1876  until  March  4, 
1886,  when  he  resigned  to  accept  an  appointment  as  United 
States  District  Attorney  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 
Mr.  Walker  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the 
Tilden  Trust,  of  the  University  and  Lawyers'  Clubs,  of  the  Bar 
Association,  and  of  the  National  League  for  the  Protection  of 
American  Institutions. 

xx 

J.    EDWARD    SIMMONS 
March  17,  1886,  to  July  2,  1890 

J.  Edward  Simmons  was  born  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  September  8, 
1841.  He  received  his  education  at  Williams  College,  and 


Personal  and  Biographical  351 

was  graduated  from  the  Albany  Law  School  in  1863.  For  four 
or  five  years  he  practised  law  in  Troy,  and  then  came  to  New 
York  and  engaged  in  business.  He  became  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  the  Stock  Exchange,  and  was  elected  its  President  at  the 
time  of  the  panic  in  1884;  after  holding  the  office  for  three 
terms  he  refused  to  accept  another  nomination.  Among  the 
positions  held  by  him  at  various  times  are  the  following  :  Presi- 
dent of  the  New  York  Clearing  House,  President  of  the  Fourth 
National  Bank,  Grand  Master  of  the  Masonic  Order  of  New 
York  State,  Treasurer  of  the  Johnstown  Relief  Fund,  Treasurer 
of  the  Finance  Committee,  World's  Fair,  1893,  trustee  of  the 
New  York  Hospital,  manager  of  the  New  York  Infant  Asylum, 
and  trustee  of  Williams  College.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Metropolitan  and  University  Clubs,  the  Holland  Society,  and 
the  New  England  Society.  He  received  the  degree  of  LL.D. 
from  the  University  of  Vermont.  Mr.  Simmons  was  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education  from  1882  to  1890,  and  strongly 
advocated  the  holding  of  patriotic  exercises  in  the  public 
schools.  He  was  especially  interested  in  the  Normal  College, 
and  was  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage  of  the  act 
of  1888  giving  the  institution  collegiate  rank  and  providing  for 
it  a  Board  of  Trustees  distinct  from  the  Board  of  Education. 
Mr.  Simmons's  portrait  is  one  of  the  dozen  oil  paintings  in  the 
Board  Room. 

XXI 

JOHN   L.    N.    HUNT 
July  2,  1890,  to  January  11,  1893 

John  L.  N.  Hunt  was  born  at  Lancaster  Court  House, 
Va.,  September  9,  1838,  and  removed  to  Ohio  when  six  years 
of  age.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Commercial  College 
at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  1856;  the  McNeely  Normal  School  of 
Ohio  in  1858;  Bethany  College,  Va.,  in  1862,  and  the  Law 
School  of  the  University  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  1869, 


352  The  New  York  Public  School 

receiving  the  degree  of  LL.B.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1869.  He  served  as  tutor  and  professor  in  Bethany  College, 
1862-1864 ;  Vice-President  and  professor  in  the  McNeely  Normal 
School  of  Ohio,  1864-1866;  Superintendent  of  Packard's  Busi- 
ness College,  New  York  City,  1866-1872,  and  was  proprietor  of 
the  Collegiate  Training  School,  New  York  City,  1872-1879. 
From  1879  to  1896  he  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  in 
New  York  City.  He  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  Member 
of  Congress  from  the  Fourteenth  Congressional  District  in  1880. 
Mr.  Hunt  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  from  1889 
to  1896.  In  July,  1896,  he  was  elected  an  Associate  Superinten- 
dent of  Schools,  and  served  in  that  position  until  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1902,  when  he  became  a 
District  Superintendent  of  Schools.  He  was  re-elected  to  this 
office  in  1902  for  a  term  of  six  years. 


XXII 


ADOLPH    L.    SANGER 
January  u,  1893,  to  January  3,  1894 

Adolph  L.  Sanger  was  born  at  Baton  Rouge,  La.,  in  October, 
1842,  and  died  in  New  York  City,  January  3,  1894.  He  was 
graduated  from  the  College  of  The  City  of  New  York  in  1862, 
and  completed  a  course  in  the  Columbia  College  Law  School  in 
1864.  He  was  Commissioner  of  the  United  States  Deposit 
Fund  in  1870.  In  1885  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Board 
of  Aldermen,  being  the  first  President  chosen  by  popular  vote. 
He  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  to  receive  the  French 
officers  who  brought  the  Bartholdi  Statue  of  Liberty  to  this 
country  in  1885,  and  a  Presidential  Elector  in  1884.  He  was 
a  member  of  several  social  clubs  and  Hebrew  organizations,  a 
linguist,  and  an  amateur  musician.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Education  from  1889  to  1894. 


Personal  and  Biographical  353 

XXIII 

CHARLES   H.    KNOX 
January  10,  1894,  to  June  24,  1895 

Charles  H.  Knox  was  born  in  New  York  City  in  1852.  He 
was  graduated  from  Columbia  College  in  1872,  and,  after  taking 
the  course  at  the  Law  School  of  New  York  University,  at  once 
entered  on  the  active  practice  of  his  profession.  In  1884  he  was 
a  candidate  on  the  Republican  ticket  for  Judge  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  but  afterward  withdrew  from  the  Republican 
party.  He  was  President  of  the  Municipal  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission during  the  administration  of  Mayor  Van  Wyck  (1898- 
1901),  and  in  1901  he  was  an  unsuccessful  candidate  on  the 
Democratic  ticket  for  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  from  1892  to  1895,  and 
strongly  advocated  the  establishment  of  the  fund  for  retired 
teachers.  Mr.  Knox  is  a  member  of  the  Manhattan  and  the 
Lawyers'  Clubs  and  of  the  Downtown  Association.  For  several 
years  he  has  been  Chairman  of  the  Law  Committee  of  the  local 
Democratic  party. 

XXIV 

ROBERT   MACLAY 
July  I,  1895,  to  January  13,  1897 

Robert  Maclay  was  born  in  New  York  City,  June  n,  1834, 
and  died  at  Elberon,  N.  J.,  July  28,  1898.  He  was  a  graduate 
from  Judson  College,  Mount  Palatine,  111.  He  engaged  in  the 
real  estate  and  banking  business  in  New  York,  and  became 
President  of  the  Knickerbocker  Ice  Company  in  1875.  He  was 
a  director  of  the  Bowery  Savings  Bank,  a  trustee  of  the  Northern 
Dispensary  and  the  Madison  Avenue  Baptist  Church,  a  governor 
of  the  Manhattan  Club,  one  of  the  incorporators  of  the  Botanical 
Garden,  a  member  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  the 
New  York  Athletic,  Metropolitan,  and  Grolier  Clubs,  the  Down- 

2  A 


354  The  New  York  Public  School 

town  Association,  the  Brown  Society  of  Glasgow,  and  the 
Advisory  Committee  of  New  York  University.  On  April  14, 
1892,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Rapid  Transit  Com- 
mission. He  was  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  from 
1891  to  1898. 

XXV 

CHARLES    BULKLEY    HUBBELL 
January  13,  1897,  to  January  31,  1898 

Charles  Bulkley  Hubbell  was  born  in  Williamstown,  Mass., 
in  July,  1853.  He  was  prepared  for  college  in  the  schools  of 
Troy,  N.  Y.,  where  his  father  was  a  physician  and  surgeon,  and 
was  graduated  from  Williams  College  in  1874.  Afterward  he 
studied  law,  and  he  has  had  an  active  practice  for  many  years 
in  the  State  and  Federal  courts  in  this  city.  His  first  public 
service  was  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  in  Troy  in 
1876.  He  was  appointed  a  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools 
in  1889,  and  served  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  for 
the  succeeding  nine  years.  In  1897  he  was  elected  President  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  and  also  served  as  President  in  1898, 
when  that  Board  became  the  School  Board  for  the  Boroughs 
of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx.  He  was  the  first  President  of 
the  Board  of  Education  of  Greater  New  York,  serving  during 
1898.  While  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  Mr.  Hubbell 
was  instrumental  in  establishing  the  Anti-Cigarette  League, 
which  now  claims  a  membership  of  a  million  boys.  He  took  a 
deep  interest  in  the  establishment  of  kindergartens  and  high 
schools,  as  well  as  in  physical  culture  and  manual  training.  He 
has  been  a  trustee  of  Williams  College  and  President  of  the 
Williams  Alumni  Association  of  New  York  City ;  is  a  member 
of  the  University,  Downtown  and  Republican  Clubs,  of  the  Sons 
of  the  Revolution,  Society  of  the  Colonial  Wars,  and  the  New 
York  Bar  Association,  and  is  Director  of  the  Department  of 
Jurisprudence  of  the  American  Social  Science  Association. 


Personal  and  Biographical  355 

III  —  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF   EDUCATION 

i 

THEODORE   F.    KING,    M.D. 
May  2,  1843, to  December  31,  1843 

Dr.  Theodore  F.  King  died  in  Brooklyn,  September  2,  1865, 
at  the  age  of  sixty-four  years.  He  was  graduated  from  Colum- 
bia College  with  the  degree  of  B.A.  in  1822,  and  in  1827  from 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  with  the  degree  of 
M.D.  After  spending  three  years  in  post-graduate  study  in 
Europe  and  a  year  in  Bellevue  Hospital,  he  began  the  practice 
of  his  profession  in  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y.,  in  1831.  In  1834 
he  removed  to  Brooklyn.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
Medical  Society  of  Kings  County  in  1835,  and  was  one  of  the 
founders  and  visiting  surgeon  of  the  Brooklyn  City  Hospital. 
Shortly  afterward  he  was  appointed  Deputy  County  Superin- 
tendent of  Schools ;  in  that  capacity  he  became  an  ex  officio  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  on  its  organization  in  1843 
was  elected  President.  Dr.  King's  title  was  changed  to  County 
Superintendent  during  1843.  His  connection  with  the  Board  of 
Education  terminated  at  the  close  of  that  year,  when  he  ceased 
to  be  County  Superintendent.  Subsequently  he  took  up  his 
residence  in  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.,  and  became  Superintendent 
of  Public  Schools  for  New  Jersey. 

ii 

J.    SULLIVAN   THORNE,    M.D. 

January  2,  1844,  to  March  4,  1845 
March  10,  1868,  to  July  12,  1870 

John  Sullivan  Thorne  was  born  in  New  York  City,  April 
19,  1807,  and  died  in  Brooklyn,  September  I,  1880.  He  was 
graduated  from  Union  College  in  1826,  and  two  years  later 


356  The  New  York  Public  School 

received  his  diploma  as  Doctor  of  Medicine  from  the  College  of 
Physicians  and  Surgeons,  New  York.  He  established  his  office 
at  No.  51  Sands  street,  Brooklyn,  and  resided  there  during  the 
remainder  of  his  life.  He  assisted  in  organizing  the  first 
dispensary  in  Brooklyn  in  1830.  He  also  helped  to  organize 
the  City  Hospital,  and  was  its  President  in  1844-1845.  He  was 
connected  with  the  Medical  Society  of  Kings  County  from  1834; 
in  1844  he  was  elected  Vice-President,  in  1846  President,  and 
in  1851  Censor.  In  1876  he  became  Counsellor  of  the  Long 
Island  College  Hospital,  and  in  1879  a  Regent  of  that  institu- 
tion. He  became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  at  its 
organization  in  1843,  and  served  continuously  until  1871,  when 
he  resigned.  His  interest  in  educational  affairs  was  very  great. 
He  was  a  trustee  of  the  old  Brooklyn  Female  Academy  and 
also  of  the  Packer  Collegiate  Institute.  He  was  a  life  member 
of  the  Long  Island  Historical  Society  and  a  member  of  the 
Society  of  Old  Brooklynites. 


m 

THEODORE   EAMES 
March  4,  1845,  to  February  3,  1846 

Theodore  Eames  was  born  in  Haverhill,  Mass.,  and  died  in 
Brooklyn,  February  5,  1847.  He  was  graduated  from  Yale 
College  in  1809.  He  studied  law  with  the  Hon.  Leverett 
Saltonstall,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  and  practised  his  profession  in 
Salem.  Afterward,  for  several  years,  he  was  principal  of  the 
Salem  Grammar  School.  About  1829  he  came  to  Brooklyn  and 
took  charge  of  a  classical  school,  which  he  conducted  successfully 
for  some  time,  after  which  he  resumed  the  practice  of  law  and 
held  the  office  of  Police  Justice.  In  1843  he  was  appointed  one 
of  the  first  members  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  held  that 
office  until  1846. 


Personal  and  Biographical  357 

IV 

STEPHEN   HAYNES 
February  3,  1846,  to  February  2,  1847 

Stephen  Haynes  was  one  of  the  original  members  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  served  in  that  capacity  from  1843  to 
1856.  He  was  President  of  the  Board  for  one  year,  and  was 
Vice-President  in  1843-1846.  Mr.  Haynes  was  a  successful 
builder.  He  served  for  a  time  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Supervisors  of  Kings  County. 


CYRUS   P.    SMITH 
February  2,  1847, to  March  10,  1868 

Cyrus  P.  Smith  was  born  in  Hanover,  N.  H.,  April  5,  1800, 
and  died  in  Brooklyn,  February  22,  1877.  He  was  graduated 
from  Dartmouth  College  in  1 824.  Pursuing  the  study  of  law  in 
the  office  of  Chief  Justice  Williams,  in  Hartford,  Conn.,  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1827.  Soon  afterward  he  removed  to 
Brooklyn,  where  he  took  an  active  part  in  public  affairs  for 
nearly  half  a  century.  In  1833  he  was  appointed  Clerk  of  the 
Village  Board  of  Trustees,  and  when  Brooklyn  was  incorporated 
as  a  city,  in  1834,  ne  became  its  first  Corporation  Counsel.  In 
1836  and  1837  he  was  a  member  of  the  County  Board  of  Super- 
visors. He  was  chosen  as  the  fourth  Mayor  of  Brooklyn  (by 
the  Common  Council)  in  1839,  was  elected  by  the  people  in  1840, 
and  held  the  office  until  1842.  In  1843  ne  was  appointed  by 
the  Common  Council  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and 
in  that  body  he  served  continuously  until  1871,  holding  the 
office  of  President  for  twenty-one  years.  He  served  as  an 
Alderman  in  1848.  In  1856  and  1857  he  was  a  member  of  the 
State  Senate.  Mr.  Smith  became  actively  connected  with  the 
Union  Ferry  Company  in  the  '40*3,  and  was  its  managing  director 


358  The  New  York  Public  School 

from  1855  until  his  death.     In  1839  he  aided  in  establishing  the 
Brooklyn  City  Hospital. 

VI 

J.    SULLIVAN   THORNE,    M.D. 

March  10,  1868,  to  July  12,  1870 

(See  J.  SULLIVAN  THORNE,  under  n) 

VII 

EPHRAIM   J.    WHITLOCK 
July  12,  1870,  to  June  30,  1881 

Ephraim  James  Whitlock  was  born  in  Brooklyn,  in  1821,  and 
died  in  that  city,  June  30,  1881.  He  was  engaged  in  the 
stationery  business  in  New  York  for  many  years,  and,  having 
acquired  a  competency,  retired  from  active  pursuits.  Subse- 
quently he  became  interested  in  the  Pioneer  Tobacco  Company 
of  New  York,  a  concern  which  was  not  successful.  He  was 
appointed  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1858  and 
served  in  that  capacity  for  twenty-three  years.  He  was  Vice- 
President  of  the  Board  in  1869-1870,  and  held  the  office  of 
President  for  the  succeeding  eleven  years.  A  memorial  tablet 
containing  a  medallion  likeness  of  Mr.  Whitlock  was  erected  by 
the  public  school  teachers  of  Brooklyn  in  the  headquarters 
building,  in  Livingston  street,  a  few  years  after  his  death. 

VIII 

DANIEL    MAUJER 
July  12,  1 88 1,  to  December  31,  1881 

Daniel  Maujer  was  born  on  the  island  of  Guernsey,  in  the 
British  Channel,  in  1810,  and  died  in  Brooklyn,  July  n,  1882. 
He  came  to  America  in  1828  and  obtained  work  as  a  painter. 


Personal  and  Biographical  359 

After  living  for  a  time  in  New  York,  he  removed  to  Williams- 
burgh  in  1838.  There  he  opened  a  paint  store,  and  carried 
on  business  for  about  thirty  years,  when  he  retired.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Board  of  Aldermen  from  the  Fifteenth  Ward 
and  served  for  one  term ;  he  also  represented  the  same  Ward  in 
the  Board  of  Supervisors.  He  was  a  director  of  the  Williams- 
burgh  City  Bank  (afterwards  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Brooklyn  );  a  director  of  the  Williamsburgh  City  Fire  Insurance 
Company  ;  a  trustee  of  the  Williamsburgh  Savings  Bank,  of  the 
Brooklyn  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  of  the  Plate  Glass 
Insurance  Company  of  New  York;  Chairman  of  the  Grand 
Street  Railroad  Company,  and  a  trustee  of  the  Eastern  District 
Dispensary  and  Hospital.  He  was  at  one  time  connected  with 
the  Exchange  Fire  Insurance  Company,  and  was  interested  in 
the  Eastern  District  Library.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Education  from  1864  to  1881. 

IX 

TUNIS    G.    BERGEN 
January  10,  1882,  to  July  6,  1886 

Tunis  G.  Bergen  was  born  at  the  old  Bergen  Homestead  in 
Brooklyn,  May  17,  1847.  He  studied  at  the  Polytechnic  Institute 
and  was  graduated  from  Rutgers  College  in  1867.  He  then 
entered  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  and  was  made  Doctor  of 
Public  and  International  Law  by  that  University  in  1871. 
Afterward  he  studied  at  the  University  of  Paris,  attended  lectures 
at  the  Sorbonne  and  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  later  took  his 
degree  as  Bachelor  of  Law  at  Columbia  University.  He  has 
practised  his  profession  in  this  city  ever  since.  He  never 
accepted  a  nomination  for  public  office  except  once,  when  he  was 
an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  the  Assembly.  For  four  years  he 
held  the  office  of  State  Commissioner  of  Charities.  He  is  a 
trustee  of  sundry  educational  institutions  and  is  connected  with 
various  railroads,  corporations,  etc.  Mr.  Bergen  was  a  member 


360  The  New  York  Public  School 

of  the  Board  of  Education  for  eighteen  years,  from  1875  to  1893. 
He  was  deeply  interested  in  the  establishment  of  the  Training 
School  for  Teachers  and  the  Girls'  High  School.  Until  the 
retirement  of  Mr.  Bergen  from  the  Board  of  Education,  the 
family  of  which  he  was  a  member  was  represented  in  the  Board 
from  its  organization,  and  for  a  number  of  years  three  Bergens 
served  on  the  Board  simultaneously.  While  at  Heidelberg  Mr. 
Bergen  was  attached  to  the  staff  of  Crown  Prince  Frederick 
during  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  as  a  neutral  American. 


ROBERT   PAYNE 
July  6,  1886,  to  July  12,  1887 

Robert  Payne  was  born  at  Fort  Miller,  Washington  County, 
N.  Y.,  July  10,  1845.  He  entered  Union  College  in  1861,  but 
at  the  end  of  his  sophomore  year  enlisted  in  the  Fifteenth  New 
York  Cavalry  and  served  in  the  army  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
Then  he  returned  to  college  and  was  graduated  in  1867.  He 
began  the  study  of  law  in  Schenectady,  but  became  interested 
in  newspaper  work  and  served  as  editor  of  the  Daily  Union  in 
that  city  for  several  years.  He  then  came  to  New  York  and 
re-entered  the  legal  profession,  later  establishing  his  office  in 
Brooklyn.  He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion in  1 88 1  and  served  for  two  terms  of  three  years  each.  He 
was  Vice-President  of  the  Board  in  1884-1886,  and  in  the  latter 
year  was  elected  President 

XI 

JOSEPH    C.    HENDRIX 
July  12,  1887,  to  March  8,  1893 

Joseph  C.  Hendrix  was  born  at  Fayette,  Howard  County, 
Mo.,  May  25,  1853,  and  died  in  Brooklyn,  November  9,  1904. 


THE   COLLEGE   OF  THE   CITY   OF   NEW  YORK 


THE   NORMAL   COLLEGE 


Personal  and  Biographical  361 

He  was  graduated  from  Central  College,  in  Fayette,  and  after- 
ward took  a  course  at  Cornell  University,  graduating  in  1873. 
He  came  to  New  York  and  became  a  member  of  the  staff  of  the 
New  York  Sun,  and  a  few  years  later  took  an  active  interest  in 
political  affairs  in  Brooklyn.  In  1881  he  was  appointed  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Education.  In  1883  he  was  an  unsuccess- 
ful candidate  for  the  office  of  Mayor.  Shortly  afterward  he  was 
appointed  a  Trustee  of  the  New  York  and  Brooklyn  Bridge,  and 
in  1885  became  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  Mr.  Hen- 
drix  was  Postmaster  of  Brooklyn  from  1886  to  1890.  In  1889 
he  organized  the  Kings  County  Trust  Company  and  became  its 
President,  holding  that  office  until  he  accepted  the  Presidency 
of  the  National  Union  Bank  in  New  York,  which  was  later 
merged  with  the  Bank  of  Commerce.  In  1892  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  Congress.  He  declined  a  renomination  in  order  to 
devote  himself  exclusively  to  financial  matters.  In  1895  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  Executive  Council  of  the  American 
Bankers'  Association,  and  afterward  served  as  President  of  the 
Association. 

xn 

JAMES    B.    BOUCK 
July  11,  1893,  to  July  3,  1894 

James  Barnes  Bouck  was  born  in  New  York  City,  February 
1 6,  1840.  He  was  educated  at  the  Utica  French  Academy, 
1850-1852;  at  the  Poughkeepsie  Collegiate  School,  1852-1855  ; 
at  the  Pensionnat  Haccius  in  Geneva,  Switzerland,  1855-1857, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1857  entered  the  junior  class  at  Union 
College,  from  which  he  was  graduated  in  1859.  After  gradua- 
tion he  was  employed  in  the  Merchants'  Exchange  Bank,  New 
York,  and  later  in  a  grain  commission  house  in  South  street. 
In  1864  he  formed  the  cotton  and  tobacco  commission  house  of 
Rawson,  Bridgland  &  Co.,  which  went  out  of  existence  in  1867, 


362  The  New  York  Public  School 

since  which  time  Mr.  Bouck  has  been  engaged  in  the  brokerage 
and  export  business,  being  a  member  of  the  New  York  Produce 
Exchange.  He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion in  1887,  and  served  continuously  until  1898,  when  he 
resigned  to  accept  the  position  of  Deputy  Receiver  of  Taxes  for 
the  Borough  of  Brooklyn,  which  he  held  until  1902.  In  1904 
he  was  appointed  a  Commissioner  of  Taxes  and  Assessments. 

XIII 

J.    EDWARD    SWANSTROM 
July  3,  1894,  to  January  31,  1898 

J.  Edward  Swanstrom  was  born  in  Brooklyn,  July  26,  1853, 
being  the  son  of  a  well-known  clergyman,  a  native  of  Sweden, 
who  came  to  Brooklyn  in  1840.  He  was  graduated  from 
New  York  University  in  1878,  studied  law,  and  was  admitted  to 
the  bar.  He  has  since  been  engaged  in  active  practice.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1888  and  was 
officially  connected  with  the  public  school  system  until  July, 
1900.  He  was  elected  President  of  the  Board  of  Education  on 
July  3,  1894,  and  held  that  office  until  one  year  after  the  Board 
of  Education  became  the  School  Board  for  the  Borough  of 
Brooklyn.  As  President  of  the  School  Board,  he  was  ex  officio 
a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Greater  New  York,  and 
was  elected  its  Vice-President.  On  January  n,  1899,  ne  was 
elected  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  expiration  of  the  term  of 
President  Hubbell,  and  held  the  office  of  President  until  February 
2Oth  following.  In  1901  Mr.  Swanstrom  was  elected  President 
of  the  Borough  of  Brooklyn  for  a  term  of  two  years.  His 
administration  of  that  office  was  eminently  successful. 


Personal  and  Biographical  363 

IV  —  PRESIDENTS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  OF  GREATER 
NEW  YORK,  1898  TO  1904 

i 

CHARLES     BULKLEY    HUBBELL 
February  21  to  December  31,  1898 

(See  CHARLES  BULKLEY  HUBBELL,  under  xxv,  Presidents  of 
the  New  York  Board  of  Education) 

ii 

J.    EDWARD    SWANSTROM 
January  11  to  February  20,  1899 

(See  J.  EDWARD  SWANSTROM,  under  xm,  Presidents  of  the 
Brooklyn  Board  of  Education) 

in 

JOSEPH   J.  LITTLE 
February  20,  1899,  to  May  17,  1900 

Joseph).  Little  was  born  in  England,  June  5,  1841,  and  came 
to  this  country  with  his  family  in  1847.  He  was  educated  in 
public  schools  and  learned  the  printer's  trade  in  a  country 
printing-office.  He  came  to  New  York  in  1859  and  found  work 
as  a  printer.  During  the  Civil  War  he  enlisted,  and  rose  to  the 
rank  of  First  Lieutenant.  In  1867  he  founded  the  printing  and 
bookbinding  establishment  now  known  as  J.  J.  Little  &  Co. 
In  1890  he  was  elected  a  member  of  Congress  and  served  for 
one  term.  He  has  been  Commander  of  Lafayette  Post  No.  140, 
G.A.R.,  President  of  the  American  Institute,  President  of  the 
General  Society  of  Mechanics  and  Tradesmen  of  the  City  of 
New  York,  and  Master  of  Kane  Lodge,  454,  F.  &  A.M.  He  is  a 


364  The  New  York  Public  School 

director  of  the  Astor  place  branch  of  the  Corn  Exchange  Bank, 
a  trustee  of  the  Excelsior  Savings  Bank,  a  trustee  of  the  New 
York  Infant  Asylum,  representative  in  this  city  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  Masons  in  England,  treasurer  of  the  Pierson  Publish- 
ing Company,  etc.  Mr.  Little  became  a  member  of  the  Board 
of  Education  in  1891,  and  after  a  few  months  was  made  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Buildings.  In  that  capacity  he  began 
an  investigation  of  the  Building  Bureau,  which  resulted  in  the 
resignation  of  the  then  Superintendent  of  Buildings  and  the 
reorganization  of  the  Bureau.  Mr.  Little  resigned  in  1891  to 
take  his  seat  in  Congress.  In  1895  he  was  reappointed  and  re- 
mained a  member  of  the  Board  until  his  resignation  on  May  17, 
1900.  In  1895  and  1896  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Buildings  and  in  1897  and  1898  Chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee.  In  1899  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Manhat- 
tan-Bronx School  Board,  and  thus  became  a  member  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  which  elected  him  as  its  President.  In 
1900  he  was  re-elected  to  both  these  offices. 

IV 

MILES  M.  O'BRIEN 
May  23,  1900,  to  February  3,  1902 

Miles  M.  O'Brien  was  born  at  Newcastle  West,  County 
Limerick,  Ireland,  in  1845.  He  came  to  New  York  City  in  1864, 
and  afterward  went  to  Baltimore,  where  he  secured  a  position  in 
a  dry-goods  store  owned  by  his  uncle.  In  1865  he  returned  to 
New  York  City  and  entered  the  service  of  H.  B.  Claflin  & 
Co.,  where  he  remained  for  many  years,  at  length  becoming 
a  partner.  He  resigned  to  become  President  of  the  Broadway 
National  Bank,  which  position  he  held  until  the  bank  was  con- 
solidated into  the  Mercantile  National  Bank,  in  which  he  now 
holds  the  position  of  Vice-President.  Mr.  O'Brien  was  a  member 
of  the  Board  of  Education  in  1886-1895  and  of  the  Manhattan- 


Personal  and  Biographical  365 

Bronx  School  Board  1899-1902.  He  took  a  prominent  part  in 
establishing  the  system  of  free  lectures,  and  was  closely  identified 
with  the  movements  for  the  establishment  of  the  High  School  of 
Commerce  and  for  the  extension  of  the  vacation  schools,  etc. 
He  has  acted  as  receiver  of  the  Madison  Square  Bank,  the 
Umbrella  Trust,  and  Downs  &  Finch.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Lotos,  Suburban,  Democratic,  Wool,  and  Catholic  Clubs,  and  of 
the  West  End  Association. 


CHARLES    C.    BURLINGHAM 
February  3,  1902,  to  February  2,  1903 

Charles  C.  Burlingham  was  born  at  Plainfield,  N.  J.,  August 
31,  1858.  He  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  A.  H.  Burlingham,  D.D., 
a  Baptist  minister.  He  was  graduated  from  Harvard  University 
in  1879,  with  the  degree  of  A.B.,  and  studied  law  at  the  Uni- 
versity Law  School,  receiving  the  degree  of  LL.B.  in  1881. 
He  entered  on  the  practice  of  his  profession  immediately,  mak- 
ing a  specialty  of  admiralty  law.  For  many  years  he  has  been 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Wing,  Putnam  &  Burlingham.  In 
1897  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Education, 
having  previously  served  as  a  School  Trustee  and  School 
Inspector,  and  was  reappointed  in  1900,  the  Board  of  Education 
having  in  the  mean  time  become  the  School  Board  for  the 
Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx.  He  resigned  from 
the  School  Board  in  1901.  In  1902,  however,  upon  the 
reorganization  of  the  Board  of  Education,  he  accepted  an 
appointment  to  that  Board,  and  was  unanimously  chosen  to 
the  office  of  President.  At  the  expiration  of  the  year  for  which 
he  was  elected,  he  resigned  from  the  Board.  During  his  con- 
nection with  the  Board  Mr.  Burlingham  was  especially  interested 
in  vacation  school  work,  etc.,  and  aided  actively  in  securing  the 
amendment  to  the  Charter  permitting  the  use  of  school  buildings 
"  for  recreation  and  other  public  uses." 


366  The  New  York  Public  School 

VI 

HENRY    A.    ROGERS 
February  2,  1903,  to  June  25,  1904 

Henry  Allen  Rogers  was  born  in  New  York  City,  on 
August  12,  1842,  and  died  June  25,  1904.  He  was  educated 
in  the  public  schools  and  the  Free  Academy  (now  the  College 
of  The  City  of  New  York).  He  was  engaged  for  many  years 
in  the  business  of  furnishing  railway  supplies,  etc.,  in  this  city. 
In  May,  1883,  he  was  appointed  a  School  Trustee  for  the 
Twenty-second  Ward,  and  served  in  that  capacity  until  Novem- 
ber 8,  1893,  when  he  was  appointed  a  Commissioner  of  Common 
Schools.  He  acted  continuously  as  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Education  and  of  the  School  Board  for  the  Boroughs  of  Man- 
hattan and  The  Bronx  until  February,  1902,  when  he  became  a 
member  of  the  Board  of  Education  of  Greater  New  York.  Dur- 
ing 1898  he  was  a  delegate  from  the  School  Board  for  the 
Boroughs  of  Manhattan  and  The  Bronx  to  the  Board  of  Edu- 
cation (Central  Board).  On  February  2,  1903,  he  was  elected 
President  of  the  Board  of  Education,  and  was  re-elected  on 
February  i,  1904. 

VII 

HENRY   N.   TIFFT 
November  23,  1904, 

Henry  N.  Tifft  was  born  at  Geneva,  N.  Y.,  in  1854,  his 
parents  being  residents  of  New  York  City.  After  graduating 
from  Public  School  14,  in  East  Twenty-seventh  street,  in  1868, 
he  entered  the  College  of  The  City  of  New  York,  from  which 
he  was  graduated  in  1873.  He  was  graduated  from  the  Law 
School  of  Columbia  University  in  1876.  While  attending  the 
Law  School  he  was  a  teacher  in  Public  School  26,  in  West 
Thirtieth  street,  for  four  years ;  he  also  taught  for  a  time  in  the 


Personal  and  Biographical  367 

evening  schools.  After  being  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1877,  he 
entered  the  law  office  of  Elihu  Root  and  Willard  Bartlett  (now 
a  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court),  and  has  been  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession  ever  since.  From  1883  to  1886  he 
was  Assistant  United  States  District  Attorney  for  this  Dis- 
trict. In  1897  he  was  appointed  a  School  Inspector  in  the 
Twenty-first  District,  and  he  was  reappointed  in  1899.  In  1902 
he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  Local  School  Board  of  Dis- 
trict No.  14,  and  served  as  its  Chairman  until  his  appointment 
to  the  Board  of  Education  in  May,  1903.  He  became  a  director 
of  the  New  York  Juvenile  Asylum  in  1891,  and  has  served  as 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Directors  since  1893.  Mr.  Tifft  is  a 
member  of  the  University  Club,  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of 
Art,  the  Municipal  Art  Society,  the  Association  for  the  Protec- 
tion of  the  Adirondacks,  and  the  Downtown  Association,  and 
an  officer  in  several  charitable  and  social  organizations. 


APPENDIX    I 

CONTRACT  WITH  A  DUTCH  SCHOOLMASTER,   FLATBUSH,   1682 
(STRONG'S  HISTORY  OF  FLATBUSH,  pp.  111-114) 

SCHOOL  SERVICE.  —  I.  The  school  shall  begin  at  eight  o'clock,  and  go 
out  at  eleven  ;  and  in  the  afternoon  shall  begin  at  one  o'clock  and  end  at  four. 
The  bell  shall  be  rung  when  the  school  commences. 

II.  When  the  school  begins,  one  of  the  children  shall  read  the  morning 
prayer,  as  it  stands  in  the  catechism,  and  close  with  the  prayer  before  dinner ; 
in  the  afternoon  it  shall  begin  with  the  prayer  after  dinner,  and  end  with  the 
evening  prayer.     The  evening  school  shall  begin  with  the  Lord's  prayer,  and 
close  by  singing  a  psalm. 

III.  He  shall  instruct  the  children  on  every  Wednesday  and  Saturday,  in 
the  common  prayers,  and  the  questions  and  answers  in  the  catechism,  to 
enable  them  to  repeat  them  the  better  on  Sunday  before  the  afternoon  service, 
or  on  Monday,  when  they  shall  be  catechised  before  the  congregation.     Upon 
all  such  occasions,  the  schoolmaster  shall  be  present,  and  shall  require  the 
children  to  be  friendly  in  their  appearance  and  encourage  them  to  answer 
freely  and  distinctly. 

IV.  He  shall  be  required  to  keep  his  school  nine  months  in  succession, 
from  September  to  June,  in  each  year,  in  case  it  should  be  concluded  upon  to 
retain  his  services  for  a  year  or  more,  or  without  limitation ;  and  he  shall  then 
be  required  to  be  regulated  by  these  articles,  and  to  perform  the  same  duties 
which  his  predecessor,  Jan  Thibaud,  above  named,  was  required  to  perform. 
In  every  particular  therefore,  he  shall  be  required  to  keep  school,  according  to 
this  seven  months  agreement,  and  shall  always  be  present  himself. 

CHURCH  SERVICE.  —  I.  He  shall  keep  the  church  clean,  and  ring  the  bell 
three  times  before  the  people  assemble  to  attend  the  preaching  and  catechism. 
Also  before  the  sermon  is  commenced,  he  shall  read  a  chapter  out  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  that,  between  the  second  and  third  ringing  of  the  bell.  After 
the  third  ringing  he  shall  read  the  ten  commandments,  and  the  twelve  articles 
of  our  faith,  and  then  take  the  lead  in  singing.  In  the  afternoon  after  the 
third  ringing  of  the  bell,  he  shall  read  a  short  chapter,  or  one  of  the  Psalms 
of  David,  as  the  congregation  are  assembling ;  and  before  divine  service  com- 
mences, shall  introduce  it,  by  the  singing  of  a  Psalm  or  Hymn. 

II.  — When  the  minister  shall  preach  at  Brooklyn,  or  New-Utrecht,  he  shall 
be  required  to  read  twice  before  the  congregation,  from  the  book  commonly 
used  for  that  purpose.  In  the  afternoon  he  shall  also  read  a  sermon  on  the 
2B  369 


370  The  New  York  Public  School 

explanation  of  the  catechism,  according  to  the  usage  and  practice  approved  of 
by  the  minister.  The  children  as  usual,  shall  recite  their  questions  and  an- 
swers out  of  the  catechism,  on  Sunday,  and  he  shall  instruct  them  therein. 
He,  as  chorister,  shall  not  be  required  to  perform  these  duties,  whenever 
divine  service  shall  be  performed  in  Flatlands,  as  it  would  be  unsuitable,  and 
prevent  many  from  attending  there. 

III.  —  For  the  administration  of  Holy  Baptism,  he  shall  provide  a  basin  with 
water,  for  which  he  shall  be  entitled  to  receive  from  the  parents,  or  witnesses, 
twelve  styvers.1     He  shall,  at  the  expense  of  the  church,  provide  bread  and 
wine,  for  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Supper ;  He  shall  be  in  duty  bound 
promptly  to  furnish  the  minister  with  the  name  of  the  child  to  be  baptized, 
and  with  the  names  of  the  parents  and  witnesses.     And  he  shall  also  serve  as 
messenger  for  the  consistory. 

IV.  —  He  shall  give  the  funeral  invitations,  dig  the  grave,  and  toll  the  bell, 
for  which  service  he  shall  receive  for  a  person  of  fifteen  years  and  upwards, 
twelve  guilders,  and  for  one  under  that  age,  eight  guilders.     If  he  should  be 
required  to  give  invitations  beyond  the  limits  of  the  town,  he  shall  be  entitled 
to  three  additional  guilders,  for  the  invitation  of  every  other  town,  and  if  he 
should  be  required  to  cross  the  river,  and  go  to  New  York,  he  shall  receive 
four  guilders. 

SCHOOL  MONEY.  —  He  shall  receive  from  those  who  attend  the  day  school, 
for  a  speller  or  reader,  three  guilders  a  quarter,  and  for  a  writer  four  guilders. 
From  those  who  attend  evening  school,  for  a  speller  or  reader,  four  guilders, 
and  for  a  writer,  six  guilders  shall  be  given. 

SALARY.  —  In  addition  to  the  above,  his  salary  shall  consist  of  four  hun- 
dred guilders,  in  grain,  valued  in  Seewant,  to  be  delivered  at  Brooklyn  Ferry, 
and  for  his  services  from  October  to  May,  as  above  stated,  a  sum  of  two  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  guilders,  in  the  same  kind,  with  the  dwelling-house,  barn, 
pasture  lot  and  meadows,  to  the  school  appertaining.  The  same  to  take  effect 
from  the  first  day  of  October,  instant. 

Done  and  agreed  upon  in  Consistory,  under  the  inspection  of  the  Honor- 
able Constable  and  Overseers,  the  8th,  of  October,  1682. 

Constable  and  Overseers  The  Consistory 

CORNELIUS  BARRIAN,  CASPARUS  VAN  ZUREN,  Minister, 

RYNIER  AERTSEN,  ADRIAEN  REVERSE, 

JAN  REMSEN,  CORNELIS  BARENT  VANDWYCK. 

I  agree  to  the  above  articles,  and  promise  to  perform  them  according  to  the 
best  of  my  ability. 

JOHANNES  VAN  ECKKELEN. 

1  A  styver  was  equal  to  about  two  cents. 


APPENDIX    II 

COURSE  OF  STUDY  FOR   THE  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS  OF  THE 
CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

GRADE  1  A 
ENGLISH 

Composition.  — Conversation  and  oral  reproduction. 
Penmanship.  —  Free-arm  movements  ;  copying. 

Reading.  —  Short  sentences  and  paragraphs.    Reading  to  the  pupils.    Eth- 
ical lessons.     Sounds  of  letters.     Use  of  library  books. 
Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  Poetry. 

NATURE  STUDY 

Animals.  —  Common  animals. 

Plants.  —  Flowering  plants  ;  fruits  and  vegetables. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING  AND   HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  —  Gymnastic  exercises  and  games. 
Hygiene.  —  Simple  talks  on  cleanliness  and  on  correct  habits.     Effects  of 
alcohol  and  narcotics. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral.  —  Reading  to  one  hundred.     Counting.     Addition  tables,  I's,  2's. 
Measurements  and  comparisons.     Problems. 
Written.  —  Integers  of  one  order. 

DRAWING  AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects;  simple  illustrative  drawings.  Con- 
structive work  with  applications  of  decorative  design.  Color.  Study  of 
pictures. 

SEWING  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Cord  Work :  simple  knotting ;  applications. 

37* 


372  Tfu  New  York  Public  School 

GRADE  1 B 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Conversation  and  oral  reproduction. 

Penmanship.  —  Free-arm  movements  ;  copying ;  practice  by  pupils  in  writ- 
ing their  own  names. 

Reading.  —  Phonic  exercises ;  sentences  and  paragraphs  read  from  the 
blackboard  and  readers.  Reading  to  the  pupils.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of 
library  books. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

NATURE   STUDY 

Animals.  —  Common  animals. 

Plants.  —  Flowering  plants ;  fruits  and  vegetables. 

Natural  Phenomena.  —  The  weather. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING  AND  HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral.  —  Reading  to  one  hundred.  Counting.  Addition  tables,  3%  41s. 
Subtraction  within  the  tables.  Increasing  and  decreasing  integers  of  two 
orders  by  i,  by  2,  by  3,  by  4.  Measurements  and  comparisons.  Problems. 

Written.  —  Integers  of  two  orders.     Addition  and  subtraction. 

DRAWING  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects;  simple  illustrative  drawings.  Con- 
structive work  with  applications  of  decorative  design.  Color.  Study  of 
pictures. 

SEWING  AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Cord  Work :  double  knotting  and  looping ;  applications. 

MUSIC 

Rote  songs ;  exercises  in  tone  relationship  by  oral  and  visible  methods  of 
dictation ;  tone  relations  and  accent  developed  from  songs  ;  recognition  of  tone 
relations  by  the  ear ;  development  of  rhythmic  sense  through  the  medium  of 
song. 


Appendix  II  373 


GRADE  2  A 
ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Conversation  and  oral  reproduction;  sentences  written 
from  copy. 

Penmanship.  —  Free-arm  movements ;  writing  from  copy. 

Reading.  —  Phonic  exercises.  Reading  from  the  blackboard  and  readers. 
Reading  to  the  pupils.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Familiar  words. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

NATURE  STUDY 

Animals.  —  Common  animals  ;  including  insects. 

Plants.  —  Flowering  plants  ;  fruits  and  vegetables ;  common  trees. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING  AND   HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  —  Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic 
habits. 

Hygiene.  —  Dietetics.    Care  of  teeth.    Effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral.  —  Reading  to  one  thousand.  Roman  numerals  to  XII.  Counting. 
Addition  tables  to  g*s.  Subtraction  within  the  tables.  Increasing  and  de- 
creasing integers  of  two  orders  by  integers  of  one  order.  Measurements  and 
comparisons.  Fractions.  Problems. 

Written.  —  Integers  of  three  orders.    Addition  and  subtraction.    Problems. 

DRAWING   AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects;  simple  illustrative  drawings.  Con- 
structive work  with  application  of  decorative  design.  Color.  Study  of 
pictures. 

SEWING  AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Cord,  Raffia,  and  Sewing;  buttonhole  looping;  fancy  knotting;  coarse 
stitches  on  canvas  ;  applications. 

MUSIC 

Rote  songs ;  tone  relations  and  accent  development  from  songs  as  in  I A 
and  i  B ;  exercises  in  tone  relationship  by  oral  and  visible  methods  of  dic- 
tation, and  recognition  of  tone  relations  by  the  ear;  rudiments  of  staff  nota- 
tion ;  recognition  of  two-part  and  three-part  measure,  applying  measure  words, 
"  loud,  soft,  loud,  soft,"  with  the  use  of  quarter-note,  half-note  and  correspond- 
ing rests  ;  simple  exercises  in  two  voice-parts. 


374  The  New  York  Public  School 

GRADE  2  B 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Conversation  and  oral  reproduction ;  sentences  from  copy 
and  dictation. 

Penmanship.  —  Movement  exercises ;  writing  from  copy. 

Reading.  —  Phonic  exercises.  Reading  from  readers  and  other  books. 
Reading  to  the  pupils.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Words  from  the  lessons  of  the  grade. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

NATURE  STUDY 

Animals.  —  Common  animals,  including  insects. 
Plants.  —  Flowering  plants  ;  fruits  and  vegetables  ;  common  trees. 
Natural  Phenomena.  —  Water  and  its  forms ;  states  of  the  air ;  the  rain- 
bow ;  the  sun,  stars,  and  moon  ;  winds,  clouds,  and  storms. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING   AND   HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral.  —  Reading  to  one  thousand.  Roman  numerals  to  XX.  Counting. 
Addition  and  subtraction.  Multiplication  tables  to  5x9;  division  within  the 
tables.  Measurements  and  comparisons.  Fractions.  Problems. 

Written.  —  Integers  of  three  orders.  Addition  and  subtraction.  Multi- 
plication and  division  by  2,  by  3,  by  4,  by  5 ;  no  remainders  in  division. 
Problems. 

DRAWING   AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects ;  simple  illustrative  drawings.  Con- 
structive work  with  application  of  decorative  design.  Color.  Study  of 
pictures. 

SEWING   AND   CONSTRUCTIVE   WORK 

Cord,  Raffia,  and  Sewing;  advanced  knotting  and  tying;  elementary 
stitches  on  canvas;  applications. 

MUSIC 

Rote  songs ;  exercises  in  tone  relationship  as  in  previous  grades ;  rudi- 
ments of  staff  notation ;  recognition  of  four-part  measure,  applying  measure 
words ;  exercises  in  two  voice-parts,  with  independent  melodic  and  rhythmic 
progressions  ;  singing  of  simple  melodies  at  sight. 


Appendix  II  375 

GRADE  3  A 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  reproduction.  Sentences  and  paragraphs  constructed ; 
paragraphs  and  stanzas  from  copy  and  dictation. 

Penmanship.  —  Movement  exercises  ;  writing  from  copy. 

Reading.  —  Phonic  exercises.  Reading  from  readers  and  other  books. 
Reading  to  the  pupils.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —Words  from  lessons  of  the  grade;  abbreviations. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

NATURE   STUDY 

Animals.  —  Various  types  of  animals,  including  cold-blooded  animals, 
birds,  and  insects. 

Plants.  —  Flowers,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  trees. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING   AND   HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  — Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic 
habits. 

Hygiene.  —  Clothing;  play;  posture.     Effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral.  —  Reading  to  ten  thousand;  Roman  numerals  to  C;  ordinals. 
Counting.  Addition  and  subtraction.  Multiplication  tables  to  9x9;  divi- 
sion within  the  tables.  One-half  to  four-fifths  of  numbers  within  the  tables. 
Measurements  and  comparisons.  Problems. 

Written.  —  Integers  of  four  orders;  dollars  and  cents.  Addition  and 
subtraction.  Multiplication  and  division  by  integers  of  one  order.  Problems. 

DRAWING   AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects  ;  exercises  illustrative  of  other  branches 
of  study.  Simple  constructive  work  from  drawings ;  decorative  design  and 
its  application.  Color.  Study  of  pictures. 

SEWING   AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Cord,  Raffia,  and  Sewing ;  simple  braiding ;  sewing  of  seams ;  applications. 

MUSIC 

Rote  songs  appropriate  to  the  grade ;  more  advanced  exercises  in  voice 
training ;  tone  relationship ;  study  of  the  keys  of  E  flat,  D,  and  C,  with  their 
signatures,  introducing  pitch  names ;  sight-singing  from  the  book,  avoiding 
the  use  of  singing  names  as  far  as  possible ;  singing  in  two  voice-parts  with 
equal  range  ;  rounds  and  canons  ;  writing  of  symbols  used  in  notation. 


376  The  New  York  Public  School 

GRADE  3  B 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  reproduction.  Sentences  and  paragraphs  constructed ; 
-paragraphs  and  stanzas  from  memory  or  dictation. 

Penmanship.  —  Movement  exercises  ;  writing  from  copy. 
Reading.  —  Phonic  exercises.     Reading  from  readers  and  other  books. 
Reading  to  the  pupils.     Ethical  lessons.     Use  of  library  books. 
Spelling.  —  Words  from  lessons  of  the  grade  ;  abbreviations. 
Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

NATURE   STUDY 

Animals.  —  Various  types  of  animals,  including  cold-blooded  animals, 
birds,  and  insects. 

Plants.  —  Flowers,  fruits,  vegetables,  and  trees. 

Earth  Study.  —  Land  and  water  forms  in  the  vicinity.  Soil ;  metals  and 
minerals.  Direction  and  distance;  points  of  the  compass. 

Natural  Phenomena.  —  The  sun ;  effects  of  heat  and  cold  on  water,  on  the 
soil,  on  plant  and  animal  life  ;  changes  of  season. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING  AND   HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral.  —  Reading  to  ten  thousand;  Roman  numerals  to  M.  Counting. 
The  four  operations.  Multiplication  tables.  One-half  to  five-sixths  of 
numbers  within  the  tables.  Changing  fractions  to  equivalents.  Measure- 
ments and  comparisons.  Problems. 

Written.  —  Integers  of  four  orders.  The  four  operations.  One-half  to 
five-sixths  of  integers.  Changing  fractions  to  equivalents.  Addition  and 
subtraction  of  fractions.  Problems. 

DRAWING   AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects  ;  exercises  illustrative  of  other  branches 
of  study.  Simple  constructive  work  from  drawings;  decorative  design  and 
its  application.  Color.  Study  of  pictures. 

SEWING  AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK 

Weaving  and  Sewing ;  instruction  on  fibres  and  textiles  ;  applications. 


Appendix  II  377 

MUSIC 

Rote  songs  appropriate  to  the  grade ;  sight  singing  applied  to  easy  songs 
in  place  of  exercises ;  study  of  the  keys  of  F,  G,  and  B  flat,  with  their  sig- 
natures ;  six-part  measure  in  slow  tempo ;  study  of  the  divided  beat ;  intro- 
duction of  sharp-four ;  writing  from  dictation  melodic  scale  progressions  in 
short  phrases. 

GRADE  4  A 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  and  written  reproduction.  Model  compositions 
studied  and  imitated;  paragraphs  and  stanzas  from  memory  or  dictation. 
Study  of  simple  declarative  sentences;  construction  of  typical  sentences. 
Rules  for  the  use  of  capital  letters  and  marks  of  punctuation. 

Penmanship.  —  Movement  exercises  ;  writing  from  copy. 

Reading.  —  From  readers  and  other  books  ;  the  meaning  of  words.  Read- 
ing to  the  pupils.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Words  from  lessons  of  the  grade. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

GEOGRAPHY 

Home  Geography.  —  Topography  of  the  City  of  New  York  and  vicinity ; 
the  people  and  their  occupations. 

Local  History.  —  Stories  connected  with  the  early  history  of  New  York. 
The  Earth.  —  Form,  motions,  and  grand  divisions  of  the  earth. 

NATURE   STUDY 

Animals.  —  Various  types   of   animals,   including  cold-blooded  animals, 
birds,  and  insects.     Animal  products ;  uses  of  animals. 
Earth  Study.  —  Elementary  study  of  metals  and  minerals. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING   AND   HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  —  Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic 
habits. 

Hygiene.  —  Need  of  pure  air;  ventilation;  rest  and  sleep.  General 
structure  of  the  body;  care  of  eyes,  ears,  nails,  and  hair.  Effects  of 
alcohol  and  narcotics. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral.  —  Reading  numbers  to  one  hundred  thousand.  Counting.  The 
four  operations.  Multiplication  tables  to  12  x  12.  One-half  to  seven-eighths 
of  numbers  within  the  tables.  Changing  fractions  to  equivalents;  addition 
and  subtraction.  Measurements  and  comparisons.  Problems. 


378  The  New  York  Public  School 

Written.  —  Integers  of  five  orders ;  the  four  operations.  One-half  to  seven- 
eighths  of  integers.  Addition  and  subtraction  of  fractions.  Problems. 

DRAWING  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK1 

Freehand  representation  of  objects ;  exercises  illustrative  of  other  branches 
of  study.  Constructive  work  from  drawings  ;  decorative  design  and  its  appli- 
cation. Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

SEWING  ! 
Advanced  stitches  applied  to  small  garments ;  mending. 

MUSIC 

Thorough  review  of  the  preceding  work ;  study  of  the  keys  of  A,  A  flat, 
and  E,  with  their  signatures;  introduction  of  flat  seven;  song  singing  at 
sight  from  books. 

GRADE  4  B 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  and  written  reproduction.  Model  compositions  stud- 
ied and  imitated  ;  similar  compositions  from  outlines ;  paragraphs  and  stanzas 
from  memory  or  dictation.  Study  of  simple  declarative  sentences.  Rules  for 
the  use  of  capitals  and  marks  of  punctuation. 

Penmanship.  —  Movement  exercises ;  writing  from  copy. 

Reading.  —  From  readers  and  other  books ;  the  meaning  of  words.  Read- 
ing to  the  pupils.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Words  from  lessons  of  the  grade. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

GEOGRAPHY 

Western  Hemisphere. — North  America  and  South  America.  Location; 
bordering  oceans  ;  physical  and  life  features ;  chief  countries  ;  peoples,  indus- 
tries, and  products.  Atlantic  coast  states.  Historical  stories. 

NATURE  STUDY 

Plants.  —  Flowerless  plants ;  cultivation  of  plants  ;  elementary  classification. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING  AND   HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 

1  While  girls  are  engaged  in  Sewing,  boys  will  receive  instruction  in  Constructive 
Work. 


Appendix  II  379 


MATHEMATICS 

Oral  and  Written.  —  Notation  and  numeration,  including  decimals  of 
three  orders.  Counting.  The  four  operations ;  multiplication  tables.  Tables 
of  weights  and  measures.  Reduction  of  fractions,  of  mixed  numbers,  and  of 
integral  denominate  numbers ;  addition  and  subtraction.  Measurements  and 
comparisons.  Problems. 

DRAWING  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK1 

Freehand  representation  of  objects  ;  exercises  illustrative  of  other  branches 
of  study.  Constructive  work  from  drawings ;  decorative  design  and  its  appli- 
cation. Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

SEWING 1 

Decorative  stitches  applied  to  small  garments ;  repairing  garments. 

MUSIC 

Development  of  chromatic  tones  as  they  occur  in  songs  and  melodic 
exercises ;  continuation  of  the  study  of  the  nine  ordinary  keys  with  their 
signatures;  the  dotted  quarter-note  in  two-part,  three-part,  and  four-part 
measure;  explanation  of  the  meaning  and  use  of  all  signs  of  expression 
and  of  phrasing  as  they  occur ;  writing  easy  melodic  phrases  from  hearing. 

GRADE  5   A 
ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  and  written  reproduction ;  simple  exercises  in  inven- 
tion. Model  compositions  studied  and  imitated  ;  topical  outlines  ;  paragraphs 
and  stanzas  from  memory  or  dictation.  Study  of  simple  declarative  sentences. 

Penmanship.  —  Movement  exercises  ;  writing  from  copy. 

Reading.  —  From  readers  and  other  books ;  the  meaning  of  new  words. 
Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Words  from  lessons  of  the  grade ;  rules  for  spelling. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

GEOGRAPHY 

Eastern  Hemisphere.  —  Europe,  Asia,  and  Africa.  Location;  bordering 
waters ;  physical  and  life  features ;  chief  countries ;  peoples,  industries,  and 
products. 

1  While  girls  are  engaged  in  Sewing,  boys  will  receive  instruction  in  Constructive 
Work. 


380  The  New  York  Public  School 

HISTORY 

Historical  and  biographical  narratives.     Ethical  lessons. 

NATURE   STUDY 

Animals.  —  Adaptation  of  animals  to  environment;  elementary  classifi- 
cation. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING   AND   HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  —  Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic 
habits. 

Hygiene.  —  Avoidance  of  dangers ;  first  treatment  of  cuts,  contusions, 
bruises,  burns,  scalds,  and  fainting.  Effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral  and  Written.  —  The  four  operations  in  common  fractions.  Addition 
and  subtraction  of  decimals ;  multiplication  and  division  of  decimals  by 
integers.  Reductions.  Cancellation.  Tables  of  weights  and  measures; 
denominate  numbers.  Measurements  and  comparisons.  Problems. 

DRAWING  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK1 

Freehand  representation  of  objects ;  simple  composition.  Constructive 
work  from  drawings ;  decorative  design  and  its  application.  Color.  Study 
of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

SEWING  * 

Applied  design ;  repairing  garments. 

MUSIC 

Development  of  rhythm,  including  syncopations  and  subdivisions  of  the 
metrical  unit  into  three  parts  (triplets)  and  four  parts  in  various  forms; 
writing  of  scales  with  their  signatures,  employing  different  rhythms;  song 
interpretation. 

GRADE  5  B 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  and  written  reproduction;  exercises  in  invention. 
Model  compositions  studied  and  imitated ;  topical  outlines ;  paragraphs  and 

1  While  girls  are  engaged  in  Sewing,  boys  will  receive  instruction  in  Constructive 
Work. 


Appendix  II  381 

stanzas  from  memory  or  dictation.  Study  of  simple  sentences  with  compound 
parts ;  chief  words  distinguished. 

Penmanship.  —  Movement  exercises ;  writing  from  copy. 

Reading.  —  From  readers  and  other  books;  the  meaning  of  new  words. 
Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Words  from  lessons  of  the  grade ;  stems,  prefixes,  and  suffixes. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

GEOGRAPHY 

United  States  and  other  countries  of  North  America ;  the  United  States 
in  sections ;  Canada,  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  the  West  Indies.  Loca- 
tion, surface,  climate ;  resources  ;  industries  and  occupations  ;  products  ;  com- 
merce ;  chief  cities ;  status  of  the  peoples.  New  York  and  the  City  of  New 
York. 

HISTORY 

American  History.  —  Historical  and  biographical  narratives.  Stories  of 
New  York  under  the  Dutch  and  the  English ;  historic  places,  buildings,  and 
monuments  in  and  about  the  City  of  New  York.  Ethical  lessons. 

NATURE   STUDY 

Plants.  —  Woody  plants  ;  industries  dependent  on  forests ;  plants  without 
wood ;  useful  plant  products ;  protection  of  trees  in  cities. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING   AND   HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral  and  Written.  —  Common  and  decimal  fractions  and  denominate  num- 
bers ;  reductions  ;  the  four  operations.  The  per  cent,  equivalents  of  common 
and  decimal  fractions.  Percentage.  Measurements  and  comparisons.  Problems. 

DRAWING  AND   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK1 

Freehand  representation  of  objects;  simple  composition.  Constructive 
work  from  drawings ;  decorative  design  and  its  application.  Color.  Study 
of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

SEWING  * 
Drafting  and  Sewing  ;  cutting  and  making  small  garments. 

1  While  girls  are  engaged  in  Sewing,  boys  will  receive  instruction  in  Constructive 

Work. 


382  The  New  York  Public  School 


MUSIC 

Development  of  the  minor  scale ;  songs  for  two  voice-parts ;  writing  of 
easy  melodies  with  words  from  hearing. 

GRADE  6  A 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  and  written  reproduction;  reports,  descriptions,  and 
invention.  Model  compositions  studied  and  imitated;  topical  outlines; 
paragraphing. 

Grammar. — Technical  grammar  with  text-book.  Sentences  classified; 
definitions  of  the  parts  of  speech. 

Penmanship.  —  Exercises  to  secure  speed  and  legibility;  business  forms 
from  copy. 

Reading.  —  From  readers  and  other  books.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of 
library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Selected  words  ;  stems,  prefixes,  and  suffixes ;  use  of  dictionary. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

GEOGRAPHY 

South  America  and  Europe.  —  Physical  features.  Leading  countries; 
location,  surface,  climate ;  resources ;  industries  and  occupations ;  products ; 
commerce;  chief  cities;  status  of  the  peoples. 

HISTORY  AND   CIVICS 

American  History.  —  From  1492  to  1789.  Discoveries,  settlements,  and 
colonies  ;  introduction  of  slavery  ;  the  French  and  Indian  War  and  its  results  ; 
the  Revolutionary  War;  its  causes,  chief  events,  and  results  ;  ordinance  of 
1787;  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  Ethical  lessons. 

Local  History.  —  New  York  in  the  struggle  for  independence;  English 
occupation  and  evacuation. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING  AND   HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  —  Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic 
habits. 

Hygiene.  —  Board  of  Health  ;  protection  against  common  and  contagious 
diseases.  Effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral  and  Written.  —  Percentage  and  its  applications.  Simple  interest. 
Measurements.  Problems. 


Appendix  II  383 

DRAWING  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK1 

Freehand  representation  of  objects;  memory  or  imaginative  drawings; 
simple  composition.  Principles  of  construction  drawing ;  constructive  work 
from  patterns  or  working  drawings;  decorative  design  and  its  application. 
Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

SEWING  l 

Drafting  and  Sewing ;  estimating  quantity  of  material ;  drafting  to  scale ; 
applied  design. 

MUSIC 

Sight  singing  in  unison  and  in  two  voice-parts,  also  in  three  parts  where 
possible,  with  voices  classified  if  changing ;  chromatic  tones  approached  by 
skips ;  writing  of  melodies  with  words  from  hearing,  introducing  chromatic 
tones  by  step  wise  progressions. 

GRADE  6  B 
ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Oral  and  written  reproduction  of  lessons  of  the  grade; 
reports,  descriptions,  and  invention.  Model  compositions  studied  and  imi- 
tated ;  topical  outlines  ;  paragraphing. 

Grammar.  —  Subdivision,  inflection,  and  syntax  of  the  parts  of  speech ; 
phrases  classified  ;  analysis  and  synthesis. 

Penmanship.  —  Exercises  to  secure  speed  and  legibility. 

Reading.  —  From  readers  and  other  books;  appreciative  reading  of  selec- 
tions from  literature.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Selected  words ;  stems,  prefixes,  and  suffixes ;  use  of  dictionary. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry. 

GEOGRAPHY 

Asia,  Africa,  and  Oceanica.  —  Physical  features.  Leading  countries:  loca- 
tion, surface,  climate ;  resources,  industries,  and  occupations ;  products  ;  com- 
merce ;  chief  cities  ;  status  of  the  peoples. 

HISTORY  AND   CIVICS 

American  History.  —  From  1789  to  the  present  time.  The  administra- 
tions ;  contest  over  slavery ;  causes,  chief  events,  and  results  of  the  War  of 

1  While  girls  are  engaged  in  Sewing,  boys  will  receive  instruction  in  Constructive 
Work. 


384  The  New  York  Public  School 

1812,  the  Mexican,  the  Civil,  and  the  Spanish  wars;  territorial  expansion; 
great  inventions  and  discoveries,  and  their  results.     Ethical  lessons. 
Local  History.  —  Growth  and  development  of  the  City  of  New  York. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING  AND  HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 

MATHEMATICS 

Oral  and  Written.  —  Simple  interest.  Ratio  and  simple  proportion. 
Measurements.  Problems. 

DRAWING  AND  CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK1 

Freehand  representation  of  objects  ;  principles  of  perspective ;  memory  or 
imaginative  drawings  ;  simple  composition.  Principles  of  construction  draw- 
ing ;  constructive  work  from  patterns  or  working  drawings  ;  decorative  design 
and  its  application.  Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

SEWING  1 

Drafting  and  Sewing ;  study  of  color  harmony  in  connection  with  textiles  ; 
drafting  to  scale ;  garment  making ;  applied  design. 

MUSIC 

Study  of  diatonic  intervals  as  such ;  the  construction  of  the  major  scale ; 
general  review  of  all  preceding  work. 

GRADE  7  A 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Study  of  specimens  of  narration,  description,  exposition, 
and  familiar  letters,  selected  from  literature  ;  similar  compositions  from  topical 
outlines ;  reports  on  home  reading ;  paragraphing.  Attention  to  clearness 
and  accuracy. 

Grammar.  —  Subdivision,  inflection,  and  syntax  of  the  parts  of  speech ; 
phrases  and  clauses  classified ;  analysis  and  synthesis. 

Reading.  —  Appreciative  reading  of  at  least  one  masterpiece  of  prose  and 
one  of  poetry.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Selected  words ;  synonyms;  use  of  dictionary. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry,  including  extracts  from  the  literature 
used  for  appreciative  reading. 

1  While  girls  are  engaged  in  Sewing,  boys  will  receive  instruction  in  Constructive 
Work. 


Appendix  II  385 


GEOGRAPHY 

Mathematical  and  Physical  Geography.  —  The  solar  system;  relations  of 
the  sun,  moon,  and  earth  ;  motions  of  the  earth  ;  latitude  and  longitude ;  heat 
belts  and  wind  belts  :  ocean  movements ;  influence  of  climatic  conditions  and 
topographical  features  on  plant  and  animal  life,  and  on  the  characteristics  and 
activities  of  the  people. 

North  America  and  Europe.  —  Study  of  North  America  and  Europe  with 
reference  to  the  physical  features  above  mentioned. 

HISTORY   AND   CIVICS 

History.  —  English  history  to  1603,  with  related  European  and  American 
history.  Ethical  lessons. 

Civics.  —  Rise  of  representative  government. 

ELEMENTARY   SCIENCE 

The  general  properties  of  matter ;  the  mechanical  powers. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING  AND   HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  —  Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic 
habits. 

Hygiene. —  Study  of  the  body ;  skin  and  special  senses;  muscles;  bones; 
digestion ;  respiration ;  circulation :  clothing ;  general  principles  of  physical 
training;  development  of  strength.  Effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics. 

MATHEMATICS 

Algebra.  —  Problems  involving  equations  of  one  unknown  quantity.  Appli- 
cation of  the  equation  to  the  solution  of  arithmetical  problems.  Fundamental 
operations.  Factoring ;  fractions. 

Geometry.  —  Constructive  exercises.     Problems. 
*** 

DRAWING,   CONSTRUCTIVE   WORK,   AND   SHOP   WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects  ;  principles  of  perspective  ;  memory  or 
imaginative  drawings  ;  simple  composition.  Construction  drawing  ;  principles 
of  constructive  design.  Ornament;  decorative  design  and  its  application. 
Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

Shop  Work  (Boys).  —  Use  and  care  of  back-saw,  plane,  chisel,  brace,  and 
bit ;  use  of  nails  and  screws.  Application  of  stains.  Making  of  simple  useful 
articles  from  individual  plans  :  application  of  appropriate  decorations. 

Or,  in  schools  in  which  shops  are  not  provided,  constructive  work  from 
patterns,  working  drawings,  or  designs. 
2  c 


386  The  New  York  Public  School 

SEWING  * 

Drafting  and  making  full-sized  garments ;  applied  design ;  use  of  patterns. 

COOKING  1 

The  equipment  and  care  of  the  kitchen.  Cooking  of  potatoes,  cereals, 
fruits,  quick  breads,  eggs,  and  milk ;  cream  soups  and  flour  pastes. 

MUSIC 

Songs  in  unison,  two  voice-part  and  three  voice-part  singing  with  classified 
voices ;  exercises  in  singing,  using  bass  clef;  writing  of  diatonic  intervals  from 
hearing;  construction  of  the  minor  scale. 

GRADE  7  B 
ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Study  of  specimens  of  narration,  description,  and  exposi- 
tion, selected  from  literature ;  similar  compositions  from  outlines ;  social  and 
business  correspondence;  reports  on  home  reading.  Attention  to  clearness 
and  accuracy.  Application  of  the  rules  of  syntax  in  the  criticism  and  correc- 
tion of  compositions. 

Grammar.  —  Systematic  review ;  analysis  and  classification  of  sentences ; 
functions  of  word,  phrase,  and  clause  elements ;  subdivision,  inflection,  and 
syntax  of  the  parts  of  speech. 

Reading.  —  Appreciative  reading  of  at  least  one  masterpiece  of  prose  and 
one  of  poetry  of  at  least  five  hundred  lines.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library 
books. 

Spelling.  —  Selected  words ;  synonyms  ;  use  of  dictionary. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry,  including  extracts  from  the  literature 
used  for  appreciative  reading. 

GEOGRAPHY 

Commercial  Geography.  —  The  United  States  and  its  colonial  possessions 
compared  with  other  great  commercial  countries :  location,  surface,  climate ; 
resources ;  industries  and  occupations,  products ;  commerce ;  chief  cities : 
status  of  the  peoples. 

HISTORY  AND  CIVICS 

History.  —  English  history  from  1603,  with  related  European  and  American 
history.  Ethical  lessons. 

1  Advanced  Sewing  will  be  pursued  by  girls  in  schools  not  provided  with  kitchens. 


Appendix  II  387 

Civics.  —  Comparison  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  the  King,  Cabinet,  and 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  with  those  of  the  President,  Cabinet,  and  Congress 
of  the  United  States. 

ELEMENTARY   SCIENCE 

The  mechanics  of  liquids  and  gases.     Heat,  its  phenomena  and  uses. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING   AND   HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 

MATHEMATICS 

Algebra.  —  Factoring  and  fractions ;  equations  of  two  unknown  quantities ; 
pure  quadratics  ;  ratio  and  proportion  ;  arithmetical  applications. 

Geometry.  —  Constructive  exercises.     Inventional  exercises.     Problems. 

DRAWING,   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK,   AND    SHOP  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects  ;  principles  of  perspective  ;  memory  or 
imaginative  drawings  ;  simple  composition.  Construction  drawing  ;  principles 
of  constructive  design.  Ornament ;  decorative  design  and  its  application. 
Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other  works  of  art. 

Shop  Work  (Boys). —  Use  and  care  of  rip  and  cross-cut  saws.  Advanced 
exercises  in  nailing,  sawing,  planing,  and  chiseling.  Structure  of  woods  em- 
ployed —  pine,  tulip,  etc.  Exercise  in  joining  and  in  making  useful  articles 
from  individual  plans  ;  application  of  appropriate  decorations. 

Or,  in  schools  in  which  shops  are  not  provided,  constructive  work  from 
patterns,  working  drawings,  or  designs. 

SEWING  1 

Drafting  and  making  full-sized  garments ;  applied  design ;  use  of  patterns. 

COOKING  l 

Making  bread.     Cooking  eggs,  meat,  and  vegetables.     Tea,  coffee,  cocoa ; 
simple  desserts.     Cooking  for  invalids. 
Equipment  and  care  of  a  dining  room. 

MUSIC 

Study  and  writing  of  tonic,  dominant  and  subdominant  triads  in  major 
keys  ;  sight  singing  of  songs  in  unison,  and  in  two  voice-parts  and  three  voice- 
parts  with  words. 

1  Advanced  Sewing  will  be  pursued  by  girls  in  schools  not  provided  with  kitchens. 


388  The  New  York  Public  School 

GRADE  8  A 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Study  of  single  and  related  paragraphs  of  narration,  descrip- 
tion, and  exposition,  selected  from  literature ;  writing  similar  paragraphs  from 
topics ;  compositions  from  outlines ;  reports  on  home  reading.  Attention  to 
clearness  and  accuracy. 

Grammar.  —  Text-book  used  chiefly  as  a  book  of  reference.  Analysis  used 
to  elucidate  obscure  or  complex  constructions ;  correction  of  common  errors 
through  the  discovery  of  good  usage  and  the  application  of  the  rules  of 
grammar. 

Reading.  —  Appreciative  study  of  at  least  one  masterpiece  of  prose  and 
one  of  poetry  of  at  least  1000  lines.  Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Selected  words  ;  synonyms  ;  use  of  dictionary. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry,  including  extracts  from  the  literature 
used  for  appreciative  study. 

ELECTIVES  * 

French,  German,  Latin,  or  Stenography. 

HISTORY  AND  CIVICS 

American  History.  —  From  the  earliest  discoveries  to  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  with  related  European  history.  Ethical 
lessons. 

Civics.  —  Forms  of  colonial  government ;  the  Articles  of  Confederation  ; 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

ELEMENTARY   SCIENCE 

Sound,  its  phenomena ;  the  ear.     Light,  its  phenomena ;  the  eye. 

PHYSICAL  TRAINING  AND  HYGIENE 

Physical  Training.  —  Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic 
habits. 


1  Electives.  The  study  to  be  pursued  in  any  one  school  shall  be  determined  by 
the  Board  of  Superintendents.  In  no  school  shall  more  than  one  of  these  subjects 
be  introduced  unless  at  least  thirty  additional  pupils  of  such  school  elect  it.  A  differ- 
ent subject  may  be  substituted  for  any  one  of  the  above  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Board  of  Superintendents. 


Appendix  II  389 

Hygiene. — Nervous  system;  brain,  spinal  cord,  nerves  and  sympathetic 
nervous  systems ;  special  senses,  organs,  and  functions,  and  their  care ;  forma- 
tion of  habits.  Effects  of  alcohol  and  narcotics. 


MATHEMATICS 

Integers,  common  and  decimal  fractions ;  underlying  principles  considered ; 
short  methods. 

Denominate  numbers.     Measurements  and  comparisons. 

Percentage  and  interest.  Ratio  and  simple  proportion.  Application  of 
algebra  and  geometry  to  the  solution  of  problems. 

X3*"~ —  VH* 

DRAWING,   CONSTRUCTIVE   WORK,   AND   SHOP  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects ;  memory  or  imaginative  drawings ; 
simple  composition.  Construction  drawing ;  constructive  design.  Ornament  ; 
decorative  design  and  its  application.  Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other 
works  of  art. 

Shop  Work  (Boys).  —  Advanced  exercises  in  chiseling  and  joinery.  Use 
of  hand-screws.  Causes  of  checking  and  warping.  Qualities  of  hard  woods  — 
oak,  ash,  etc.  Making  useful  articles  from  individual  plans.  Application  of 
appropriate  decoration. 

Or,  in  schools  in  which  shops  are  not  provided,  constructive  work  from 
patterns,  working  drawings,  or  designs. 

SEWING  * 

Drafting  and  making  garments  ;  applied  design. 


COOKING 


Cooking  of  beef,  mutton,  poultry,  fish,  and  shell-fish.  Jellies,  cakes,  and 
ices.  Salads.  Canning  fruits  and  vegetables.  Cooking  for  infants  and 
invalids.  Table  service  and  dining  room  customs.  Fittings  and  care  of  the 
sick  room. 


MUSIC 


Study  and  writing  of  tonic,  dominant  and  subdominant  triads  in  minor 
keys,  and  of  the  diminished  triad  on  the  leading  tone  in  major  and  minor,  with 
its  resolution ;  sight-singing  continued  ;  special  attention  to  changed  voices. 

1  Advanced  Sewing  will  be  pursued  by  girls  in  schools  not  provided  with  kitchens. 


390  The  New  York  Pitblic  School 

GRADE  8  B 

ENGLISH 

Composition.  —  Study  of  specimens  of  narration,  description,  and  exposi- 
tion; similar  compositions  written  from  outlines:  reports  on  home  reading. 
Attention  to  clearness  and  accuracy. 

Grammar.  —  Text-books  in  grammar  used  chiefly  as  books  of  reference. 
Analysis  and  syntax. 

Reading.  —  Appreciative  study  of  at  least  one  masterpiece  of  prose  and  one 
of  poetry  of  at  least  1000  lines  ;  attention  to  the  more  familiar  figures  of  speech. 
Ethical  lessons.  Use  of  library  books. 

Spelling.  —  Selected  words  ;  synonyms ;  use  of  dictionary. 

Memorizing.  —  Prose  and  poetry,  including  extracts  from  the  literature 
used  for  appreciative  study. 

ELECTIVES  * 
French,  German,  Latin,  or  Stenography. 

HISTORY  AND  CIVICS 

United  States  History.  —  From  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  the  present  time,  with  related  European  history.  Ethical 
lessons. 

Civics.  —  Amendments  to  the  Constitution ;  governments  of  the  State  and 
of  the  City  of  New  York. 

ELEMENTARY   SCIENCE 

Electricity  and  magnetism ;  simple  applications.    Chemistry  of  combustion. 

PHYSICAL   TRAINING  AND   HYGIENE 

Gymnastic  exercises  and  games,  and  correct  hygienic  habits. 


1  Electives.  The  study  to  be  pursued  in  any  one  school  shall  be  determined  by 
the  Board  of  Superintendents.  In  no  school  shall  more  than  one  of  these  subjects 
be  introduced  unless  at  least  thirty  additional  pupils  of  such  school  elect  it.  A  differ- 
ent subject  may  be  substituted  for  any  one  of  the  above  at  the  discretion  of  the  Board 
of  Superintendents. 


Appendix  II  391 


MATHEMATICS 

Square  root  and  its  applications.     Mensuration  and  its  applications. 

Illustrative  explanations  governing  business  operations,  accounts,  and 
commercial  paper. 

Metric  system  ;  common  units  and  their  equivalents ;  reduction.  Applica- 
tion of  algebra  and  geometry  to  the  solution  of  problems. 

DRAWING,   CONSTRUCTIVE  WORK,   AND   SHOP  WORK 

Freehand  representation  of  objects ;  memory  or  imaginative  drawings ; 
simple  composition.  Construction  drawing  ;  constructive  design.  Ornament ; 
decorative  design  and  its  application.  Color.  Study  of  pictures  and  other 
works  of  art. 

Shop  Work  (Boys).  —  Nature  and  application  of  mortise  and  dovetail 
joint.  Characteristics  of  common  woods.  The  construction  of  useful  articles 
from  individual  plans.  Application  of  appropriate  decorations.  Communal 
exercises  related  to  interests  of  school. 

Or,  in  schools  in  which  shops  are  not  provided,  constructive  work  from 
patterns,  working  drawings,  or  designs. 

SEWING  l 
Drafting  and  making  garments ;  applied  design. 

COOKING  l 

The  preparation  of  simple  breakfasts,  luncheons,  and  dinners.  Compara- 
tive values  of  foods.  Dietaries.  Nursing.  Marketing.  Laundering.  Re- 
moval of  stains.  Home  sanitation. 


MUSIC 

Study  and  writing  of  triads  on  the  second,  third,  and  sixth  degrees,  and  of 
the  dominant  chord  of  the  seventh  with  its  resolution ;  choral  singing. 


1  Advanced   Sewing  will  be   pursued  by  girls  in  schools   not   provided  with 
kitchens. 


392  The  New  York  Public  School 

TIME  SCHEDULE  ON  THE  BASIS  OF   1500  MINUTES  PER  WEEK 


YEARS 

I 

II 

in 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

VIII 

Opening  exercises  .     . 

75 

75 

75 

75 

75 

75 

75 

75 

Physical    Training, 

Physiology  and  Hy- 

giene, Recesses  and 

Organized  Games  . 

200 

165 

.  165 

165 

90 

90 

90 

90 

English     

45° 

510 

450 

375 

375 

375 

(9)36o 

(8)320 

Penmanship  .... 

100 

125 

125 

75 

75 

75 





Electives       (German, 

French,  Latin,  Ste- 

nography)     .     .    . 















(5)200 

Geography    .... 







J35 

120 

120 

(2)80 



History 

QO 

s      \ 

f   \ 

yu 

1  2O 

\j) 

\j)  *^O 

Mathematics      .     .     . 

120 

150 

150 

150 

I50 

200 

(5)200 

(4)160 

Nature  Study     .     .     . 

90 

90 

90 

90 

75 







Drawing     and     Con- 

(2)8C 

(2)80 

structive  Work  .     . 

1  60 

1  60 

1  60 

120 

120 

120 

(2)80 

(2)80 

Shop  Work,  Cooking 

or  Advanced  Sewing 













(2)80 

(2)80 

Sewing  and  Construc- 

tive Work  .... 

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 





Music  

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 

Study  

90 

135 

150 

150 

(5)200 

(4)160 

Unassigned  Time  .     . 

I85 

105 

75 

60 

60 

55 

75 

75 

1500 

1500 

1500 

1500 

1500 

1500 

1500 

1500 

NOTE.  —  Both  boys  and  girls  are  to  take  the  work  outlined  under  Sewing  and  Con- 
structive Work  in  the  first  three  years. 

Electives.  The  study  to  be  pursued  in  any  one  school  shall  be  determined  by  the  Board 
of  Superintendents.  In  no  school  shall  more  than  one  of  these  subjects  be  introduced  unless 
at  least  thirty  additional  pupils  of  such  school  elect  it.  A  different  subject  may  be  substi- 
tuted for  any  one  of  the  above  at  the  discretion  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

The  figures  in  parentheses  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  years  represent  the  number  of 
forty-minute  periods  per  week. 


APPENDIX    III 

HIGH  SCHOOL  COURSES  OF  STUDY 
COURSE  FOR  ALL   EXCEPT  COMMERCIAL   HIGH   SCHOOLS 

BOROUGH  OF  MANHATTAN 

De  Witt  Clinton  High  School  Wadleigh  High  School 

Girls'  Technical  High  School 

BOROUGH   OF   THE   BRONX 

The  Morris  High  School 

BOROUGH   OF   BROOKLYN 

Boys'  High  School  Eastern  District  High  School 

Girls'  High  School  Erasmus  Hall  High  School 

Manual  Training  High  School 

BOROUGH   OF   QUEENS 

Bryant  High  School  Far  Rockaway  High  School 

Newtown  High  School  Jamaica  High  School 

Flushing  High  School  Richmond  Hill  High  School 

BOROUGH   OF  RICHMOND 

Curtis  High  School 

FIRST  YEAR  SECOND   YEAR 

Reqitired  Required 

Periods  Periods 

English 5      English 3 

Latin  or  German  or  French      .     .     5      Latin  or  German  or  French     .     .     5 

Algebra 5      Plane  Geometry 4 

Biology,     including     Physiology,  Greek  and  Roman  History  ...     3 

Botany  and  Zoology,  in  differ-  15 

ent  parts  of  the  year      ...     5 

20 
393 


394 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Electives 

Periods 

Greek 5 

German 5 

French 5 

Spanish 5 

Chemistry 5 

THIRD   YEAR 

Required 

English 3 

Latin  or  German  or  French      .     .  5 

English  History 2 

Physics1 5 

Geometry  and    Algebra   (second 

course)  2 3 

^8 
Electives 

Greek 4 

German 4 

French 4 

Spanish 4 

Stenography  and  Typewriting       .  4 

Bookkeeping 3 

Economics 3 

Botany  or  Zoology 4 


FOURTH   YEAR 

Required 

Periods 

English 3 

A  Foreign  Language       ....  4 
Chemistry    or     Physiography    or 

Biology  3 4 

English   and    American    History 

and  Civics 4 

Electives 

Physics,  as  in  third  year      ...  5 

Greek 4 

Latin 4 

German 4 

French 4 

Spanish 4 

Mathematics 4 

Stenography  and  Typewriting      .  3 

Economics 3 

Domestic  Science  (sewing,  cook- 
ing, and  household  economy)    .  3 
Commercial  Law  and  Commercial 

Geography 3 

Additional  Latin  or  Greek  or  Eng- 
lish        3 

Mediaeval  and  Modern  History     .  3 


GENERAL  PROVISIONS 

1 .  A  period  shall  not  exceed  fifty  minutes. 

2.  Drawing  and  art  study  shall  be  required  two  periods  per  week  and  vocal 
music  one  period  per  week  throughout  the  first  two  years.     Drawing  and  art 
study  shall  be  optional  one  period  a  week  throughout  the  third  and  fourth 
years.     Those  who  intend  to  enter  a  training  school  should  take  this  course 
throughout  the  third  and  fourth  years. 

1  A  student  preparing  for  college,  who  has  already  taken  two  foreign  languages, 
may  substitute  a  third  foreign  language  for  science  specified.     At  least  one  period 
a  week  of  Physics  shall  be  devoted  to  unprepared  work. 

2  Bookkeeping  may  be  substituted  for  Geometry  and  Algebra. 

3  A  student  preparing  for  college,  who  has  already  taken  two  foreign  languages, 
may  substitute  a  third  foreign  language  for  science  specified. 


Appendix  III  395 

3.  The  equivalent  of  two  periods  per  week  shall  be  devoted  to  physical 
training  throughout  the  course. 

4.  Drawing  and  art  study,  physical  training  and  vocal  music  shall  not  be 
considered  as  subjects  requiring  preparation. 

5.  Of  subjects  requiring  preparation,  no  student  shall  be  required  to  take 
more  than  twenty-one  periods  per  week. 

6.  No  new  class  in  an  elective  subject  need  be  formed  in  the  second  year 
for  less  than  25  pupils  ;  in  the  third  year  for  less  than  20  pupils  ;  in  the  fourth 
year  for  less  than  15  pupils. 

7.  Exercises  in  voice  training  and  declamation  shall  be  given  at  least  once 
a  week  during  the  first  year,  and  may  be  continued  throughout  the  course. 

8.  In  order  to  graduate  from  a  high  school  a  student  must  have  studied  at 
least  one  foreign  language  for  at  least  three  years,  have  accomplished  satis- 
factorily all  the  other  required  work,  and  have  taken  a  sufficient  number  of 
elective  studies,  so  that  the  total  amount  of  required  and  elective  studies  shall 
equal  3000  periods  of  work  requiring  preparation,  and  shall  extend  over  not 
less  than  three  years  and  not  more  than  six  years.     Due  credit  shall  be  given 
by  the  principal  of  a  high  school  for  work  done  by  a  pupil  in  other  high 
schools. 

9.  After  July  31, 1902,  a  student's  proficiency  in  each  subject  presented  for 
graduation  shall  be  determined,  in  accordance  with  rules  to  be  prescribed  by 
the  Board  of  Superintendents,  by  the  examination  conducted  by  the  College 
Entrance  Examination  Board.     A  diploma  of  graduation  shall  be  issued  to 
each  student  who  successfully  passes  this  examination  and  who  complies  with 
the  foregoing  conditions.     A  certificate  of  having  successfully  completed  the 
course  of  study  for  high  schools  shall  be  issued  to  each  student  who  has 
complied  with  the  foregoing  conditions,  but  who  does  not  take  the  above-men- 
tioned examination. 

TECHNICAL   HIGH   SCHOOL   COURSE   OF   THREE  YEARS 
AUTHORIZED  IN  THE  FOLLOWING  SCHOOLS: 

BOROUGH  OF  MANHATTAN 
Girls'  Technical  High  School 

BOROUGH   OF  QUEENS 

Bryant  High  School  Flushing  High  School 

Jamaica  High  School 

BOROUGH   OF  RICHMOND 

Curtis  High  School 


396 


The  New  York  Public  School 


FIRST  YEAR 

Required 

Periods 

English 5 

Commercial  Arithmetic  ....  3 

Biology 5 

Drawing  (freehand  and  mechani- 
cal)        4 

Optional 

Algebra  &' 5 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     .  5 

Domestic  Science 5 

Sewing  and  Constructive  Work     .  5 

One  elective  required  during  the 
first  year.  All  pupils  must  take  phy- 
siology and  hygiene  the  equivalent 
of  4  periods  per  week  for  10  weeks. 

SECOND   YEAR 

Required 

English 3 

History  of  Greece  and  Rome  (first 
term)     and    England    (second 

term) 5 

Chemistry 5 

Geometry  or  a  modern  language  .     4 


Electives 
One  of  the  following  groups  : 

Group  I 

Periods 

Manual  Training 6 

Drawing 3 

~9 

6 
_3 

9 

Group   III 

Dressmaking 6 


Group  II 

Stenography  and  Typewriting 
Bookkeeping  and  Office  Economy 


Drawing 


Millinery 
Drawing 


Group   IV 


THIRD    YEAR 

Required 

English 

History  of  United  States  and  Civics 
Physics  or  a  Modern  Language  . 
Commercial  Geography  .... 

Electives 
(As  in  Second  Year) 


The  general  provisions  of  the  regular  four  years'  course  shall  apply  to  this 
course  except  in  reference  to  graduation. 

Certificates  will  be  awarded  to  those  who  satisfactorily  complete  this  course. 

Diplomas  will  be  awarded  to  those  students  who  satisfactorily  complete 
this  course,  and  who,  in  addition,  take  a  sufficient  number  of  electives  so  that 
the  total  amount  of  required  and  elective  studies  shall  equal  3000  periods  of 
work  requiring  preparation  and  who  meet  the  requirements  of  the  examination 
for  graduation  from  high  schools. 

MANUAL   TRAINING   COURSE   FOR   BOYS 

BOROUGH   OF   MANHATTAN 

Stuyvesant  High  School 

BOROUGH  OF  BROOKLYN  BOROUGH  OF  QUEENS 

Manual  Training  High  School  Bryant  High  School 


Appendix  III 


397 


FIRST    YEAR 


Required l 

Periods 
English  (Grammar,  Rhetoric  and 

Composition) 5 

German  or  French  or  Latin     .     .  5 

Algebra^ 5 

Freehand  and  Mechanical  Draw- 
ing    4 

Joinery 6 

25 

SECOND   YEAR 

Required 

English 3 

German  or  French  or  Latin     .     .     5 

Plane  Geometry 4 

Freehand  and  Mechanical  Draw- 
ing   4 

Wood  Turning,  Pattern  Making, 
Moulding,  and  Sheet  Metal 
Work 6 

22 

Alternatives 

German  or  French  or  Chemistry     5 


THIRD   YEAR 

Required 

Periods 

English 3 

German  or  French  or  Latin      .     .  5 
Physics    (only   four  lessons  pre- 
pared)        5 

Advanced    Algebra    and    Plane 

Trigonometi  y"J* 3 

Mechanical  Drawing 2 

Forging 6 

24 

Alternatives 

German  or  French  or  Chemistry  .  4 

FOURTH   YEAR 

Required 

English 3 

A  Foreign  Language       ....  4 
English    and   American    History 

and  Civics 4 

Mechanical  Drawing 2 

Machine-shop  practice 2      ...  6 

i~9 

Alternatives 

Any  two  of  the  following : 

A  Second  Language 4 

Chemistry 4 

Physics 4 

Spherical  Trigonometry  and  Solid 

Geometry 4 


GENERAL  PROVISIONS 


1 .  A  period  shall  not  exceed  fifty  minutes. 

2.  Vocal  music  shall  be  required  one  period  per  week  throughout  the  first 
two  years. 


1  Physiology  and  hygiene,  as  required  by  law,  shall  be  taught  the  equivalent 
of  four  lessons  a  week  for  ten  weeks. 

2  With  the  approval  of  the  principal,  a  pupil  preparing  for  a  technical  college 
course  may  substitute  an  academic  subject  for  machine-shop  practice. 


398 


The  New  York  Public  School 


3.  The  equivalent  of  two  periods  per  week  shall  be  devoted  to  physical 
training  throughout  the  course. 

4.  Drawing  and  art  study,  physical  training,  shop  work  and  vocal  music 
shall  not  be  considered  as  subjects  requiring  preparation. 

5.  Of  subjects  requiring  preparation,  no  student  shall  be  required  to  take 
more  than  nineteen  periods  per  week. 

6.  No  new  class  in  an  elective  subject  need  be  formed  in  the  second  year 
for  less  than  25  pupils  ;  in  the  third  year  for  less  than  20  pupils  ;  in  the  fourth 
year  for  less  than  1 5  pupils. 

7.  Exercises  in  voice  training  and  declamation  shall  be  given  at  least  once 
a  week  during  the  first  year,  and  may  be  continued  throughout  the  course. 

8.  In  order  to  be  graduated  from  this  course,  a  student  must  have  studied 
at  least  one  foreign  language  for  at  least  three  years,  have  accomplished  satis- 
factorily all  the  other  required  work,  and  have  taken  a  sufficient  number  of 
elective  studies  so  that  the  total  amount  of  required  and  elective  studies  shall 
equal  2500  periods  of  work  requiring  preparation  and  1000  periods  of  drawing 
and  shop  work,  and  shall  extend  over  not  less  than  three  years  nor  more  than 
six  years.     Due  credit  shall  be  given  by  the  principal  for  work  done  by  the 
pupil  in  other  high  schools. 

COURSE   FOR   HIGH   SCHOOL   OF  COMMERCE,  MANHATTAN 


FIRST   YEAR 

Required 

Periods 

English 4 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     .     4 

Algebra 4 

Biology x  (with  especial  reference 

to  materials  of  commerce)    .     .     4 
Greek  and  Roman  History      .     .     2 

Business  Writing 2 4 

Stenography  3 2 

Drawing8 2 

Physical  Training1 2 

Music  ...     i 


Electives 

Business  Arithmetic  .     . 
Commercial  Geography  . 


25 

i 

i 


SECOND   YEAR 

Required 

Periods 

English 3 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     .  4 

Plane  Geometry 3 

Chemistry  (with  especial  reference 

to  materials  of  commerce)    .     .  4 
Mediaeval  and    Modern    History 
(with  especial  reference  to  eco- 
nomic history  arid  geography)  .  3 

Drawing 2 

Stenography 2 

Physical  Training 2 

23 
Electives 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     .  4 

Business  Forms  and  Bookkeeping  3 

Business  Arithmetic i 

Commercial  Geography .     .     .     .  i 


Including  Physiology. 


2  First  half  year. 


3  Second  half  year. 


Appendix  III 


399 


THIRD   YEAR 

Required 


Periods 

•  3 

•  4 


English 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     . 

Algebra  and  Geometry  .... 

Physics  r"" 

English  History  (with  especial 
reference  to  economic  history 
and  geography) 

Physical  Training 

Elective* 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     .  4 
Bookkeeping     and      Commercial 

Arithmetic 4 

Stenography  and  Typewriting      .  3 

Drawing 2 


3 

2 
2O 


FOURTH   YEAR 

Required 

English 3 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     .     4 
Economics  and  Economic  Geogra- 
phy       4 

History  of  the  United  States  (with 
especial  reference  to  industrial 
and  constitutional  aspects)  .     .     4 
Physical  Training 2 

17 

Electives 

German,  French  or  Spanish     .     .  4 

A  Third  Language 4 

Advanced  Chemistry      ....  4 

Trigonometry  and  Solid  Geometry  4 


Periods 
Elementary  Law  and  Commercial 

Law  * 4 

Advanced  Bookkeeping,  Business 
Correspondence      and      Office 

Practice 4 

Stenography  and  Typewriting      .     4 
Drawing 2 

FIFTH   YEAR 

Required 

English 3 

Logic,  Inductive  and  Deductive   .  3 

Physical  Training 2 

~8 
Elective* 

A  foreign  language 4 

Advanced  Mathematics  ....     4 

Advanced  Physics 4 

Industrial  Chemistry 4 

Economic  Geography      ....     4 
(iQth    Century   History,    Europe 
and  Orient;  Diplomatic  History, 
United  States  and  Modern  Eu- 
rope)    4 

Banking  and  Finance,  Transporta- 
tion and  Communication      .     .     4 
Administrative  Law  and  Interna- 
tional Law 4 

Accounting  and  Auditing    ...     4 
Business  Organization  and  Man- 
agement    4 

Drawing 4 

Advanced  Economics     ....    3 


1  Students  who  do  not  elect  law  in  the  fourth  year  may  receive  instruction  in 
Commercial  Law  in  connection  with  Advanced  Bookkeeping. 


400  The  New  York  Public  School 

GENERAL  PROVISIONS 

1.  A  period  shall  not  exceed  fifty  minutes. 

2.  Drawing  and  art  study,  physical  training  and  vocal  music  shall  not  be 
considered  as  subjects  requiring  preparation. 

3.  Of  subjects  requiring  preparation,  no  student  shall  be  required  to  take 
more  than  twenty-one  periods  per  week. 

4.  No  new  class  in  an  elective  subject  need  be  formed  in  the  second  year 
for  less  than  25  pupils  ;  in  the  third  year  for  less  than  20  pupils ;  in  the  fourth 
year  for  less  than  15  pupils. 

5.  Exercises  in  voice  training  and  declamation  shall  be  given  at  least  once 
a  week  during  the  first  year,  and  they  may  be  continued  throughout  the  course. 

6.  In  order  to  graduate  from  the  High  School  of  Commerce  a  student 
must  have  studied  at  least  one  foreign  language  for  at  least  three  years,  have 
accomplished  satisfactorily  all  the  other  required  work,  and  have  taken  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  elective  studies  so  that  the  total  amount  of  required  and 
elective  studies  shall  equal  3000  periods  of  work  requiring  preparation,  and 
shall  extend  over  not  less  than  three  years,  and  not  more  than  six  years.    Due 
credit  shall  be  given  by  the  principal  for  work  done  by  a  pupil  in  other  high 
schools. 

7.  A  certificate  of  graduation  shall  be  awarded  at  the  close  of  the  fourth 
year  to  each  student  who  satisfactorily  completes  the  work  up  to  that  point. 
The  fifth  year  shall  be  regarded  as  supplementary  to  the  regular  course,  and 
shall  be  open  to  all  students  who  have  graduated  from  a  high  school  course  of 
four  years. 


APPENDIX    IV 

COURSES  OF  STUDY  FOR  TRAINING  SCHOOLS  FOR  TEACHERS 

NEW   YORK  TRAINING   SCHOOL   FOR   TEACHERS 

245  East  ngth  Street,  Borough  of  Manhattan 

BROOKLYN  TRAINING  SCHOOL  FOR  TEACHERS 
Prospect  Place,  west  of  Nostrand  Avenue,  Borough  of  Brooklyn 

FIRST  YEAR  —  FIRST  TERM  FIRST   YEAR  —  SECOND   TERM 

Periods  Periods 

Logic:  Science  and  art  of  thinking    4      Psychology 5 

English  :  Reading,  spelling,  phon-  English  :    Language,  composition 

ics,  voice  training 4          and  grammar 4 

Science :  Nature  study   ....     5  Mathematics  :  Arithmetic,  elemen- 

Art :  Drawing     and     constructive  tary  geometry  and  algebra   .     .  4 

work 3      Geography  .  •»» 3 

Penmanship  and  blackboard  writ-  Art :    Drawing  and    constructive 

ing 2          work 3 

Sewing 2      Sewing I 

Physical  culture 2      Physical  culture 2 

Singing 2      Singing 2 

24  24 

SECOND   YEAR  — FIRST  TERM 

Periods 

Principles  and  history  of  education 5 

English :  Composition,  teaching  of  literature,  children's  literature,  story- 
telling     3 

History  and  civics 4 

Science :  Method  of  teaching  elementary  science .     2 

Mathematics :  Methods 2 

School  management 2 

Art :  Drawing,  constructive  work,  blackboard  sketching 2 

Physical  culture 2 

Singing _2 

24 

SECOND  YEAR  —  SECOND  TERM 

Practice  teaching  as  substitutes 
2  D  401 


402  The  New  York  Public  School 

GENERAL   DIRECTIONS 

1 .  The  time  devoted  to  physical  training,  two  periods  per  week,  may  be 
distributed  throughout  the  week  at  the  discretion  of  the  principal. 

2.  Not  less  than  sixty  minutes  per  week  during  the  first,  second  and  third 
terms  shall  be  devoted  to  the  observation  of  work  in  the  model  school. 

3.  Part  of  the  time  set  apart  for  the  study  of  methods  of  teaching  a 
branch  of  study  may  be  devoted  to  giving  lessons  in  that  branch  to  a  group 
of  pupils  selected  from  the  model  school. 

KINDERGARTEN  COURSE  FOR  TRAINING  SCHOOLS  FOR  TEACHERS 
Length  of  Course  —  Two  Years 

FIRST  YEAR  —  FIRST   TERM  FIRST   YEAR  —  SECOND   TERM 

(Same  as  in  regular  course)  Periods 

Periods  Psychology  and  principles  of  edu- 

Logic:  Science  and  art  of  thinking    4          cation 5 

English :  Reading,  spelling,  phon-  English :   Voice  training,  compo- 

ics,  voice  training 4  sition,  including  story-telling     .  3 

Science :  Nature  study    ....     5      Nature  study 3 

Art :  Drawing  and  constructive  work  3      Drawing 2 

Penmanship  and  blackboard  writing  2  Music :  Songs  and  games    ...  3 

Sewing 2      Mother  play I 

Physical  culture 2      Physical  culture 2 

Singing 2  Gifts  and  occupations     ....  5 

Observation i      Observation I 

25  25 

SECOND   YEAR  —  FIRST  TERM 

Periods 
History  of  Education 3 

Principles  of  education  with  special  reference  to  the  kindergarten     ...  3 
English :    Voice    training,    children's    literature,   composition,   including 

story-telling 3 

Nature  study 2 

Drawing 2 

Physical  culture 2 

Music :  Songs  and  games 3 

Gifts  and  occupations 3 

Program :  Kindergarten  procedure 3 

Observation i 

25 

SECOND  YEAR  — SECOND  TERM 

Practice  teaching  as  substitutes 


APPENDIX   V 

(SECTION  64  OF  THE  BY-LAWS  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION) 
SALARY  SCHEDULES 

SALARIES  —  GENERAL    REGULATIONS 

I.  The  term  "teacher  of  a  graduating  class,"  as  used  in  Section  1091  of 
the  Revised  Charter,  shall  be  understood  to  mean  the  teacher  of  the  highest 
class  in  an  elementary  school,  namely,  the  grade  known  as  the  8  B  Grade, 
provided  such  class  is  composed  exclusively  of  pupils  of  that  grade.  The 
terms  "  first  assistant "  and  "  vice-principal "  in  elementary  schools,  as  used  in 
the  Revised  Charter,  shall  be  understood  to  refer  exclusively  to  teachers  regu- 
larly appointed  to  such  position  or  such  rank  in  the  public  schools  of  the 
former  City  of  New  York  prior  to  February  I,  1898.  The  expression  "  grades 
of  the  last  two  years  in  the  elementary  schools,"  as  used  in  the  Revised 
Charter,  shall  be  understood  to  mean  the  grades  of  the  last  two  years  of  work 
prescribed  by  the  course  of  study  for  elementary  schools.  The  term  "  model 
teacher,"  as  used  in  the  Revised  Charter,  shall  be  understood  to  refer  to  a 
class  teacher  in  a  model  school  that  forms  a  constituent  part  of  a  training 
school  for  teachers  and  that  is  under  the  control  and  direction  of  the  principal 
of  such  training  school,  and  shall  not  include  the  teachers  of  classes  in  other 
schools  in  which  teachers-in-training  practice  teaching.  The  terms  "head 
teacher,"  "  assistant  to  the  principal,"  "  first  assistant,"  and  "  vice-principal," 
as  used  in  said  Revised  Charter,  with  reference  to  high  schools  and  training 
schools  for  teachers,  shall  be  understood  to  include  all  persons  appointed  or 
promoted  to  such  positions,  provided  they  hold  first  assistant  teachers'  licenses 
for  high  schools  or  for  training  schools  for  teachers,  as  the  case  may  be.  The 
terms  **  male  teacher  "  and  "  female  teacher,"  as  used  in  said  Revised  Charter, 
shall  be  understood  to  refer  in  an  elementary  school  to  a  teacher  holding 
license  No.  i  or  a  license  of  higher  grade,  appointed  to  a  school  in  accordance 
with  law  for  a  term  of  not  less  than  five  school  months,  and  shall  not  include 
substitute  teachers,  kindergarten  helpers,  teachers  of  special  branches,  nor 
teachers  appointed  for  a  specified  time  less  than  five  school  months.  The 
term  "  mixed  class."1  as  used  in  said  Revised  Charter,  shall  be  understood  to 
mean  a  class,  above  the  kindergarten,  composed  of  both  boys  and  girls,  in 

403 


404  The  New  York  Public  School 

which  the  aggregate  number  of  days  of  attendance  of  the  boys  in  such  class  for 
the  month  immediately  preceding  the  preparation  of  the  regular  payroll  shall 
have  been  not  less  than  forty  per  cent. 

2.  No  salary  of  a  member  of  the  supervising  or  teaching  force,  including 
the  City  Superintendent,  Associate  City  Superintendents  and  District  Super- 
intendents, shall  be  reduced  by  reason  of  the  operation  of  the  schedule  of 
salaries  set  forth  in  these  by-laws.     A  member  of  the  supervising  or  teaching 
force  transferred  from  one  position  to  another  shall  not  lose,  because  of  such 
transfer,  any  of  the  rights  as  to  salary  acquired  in  the  position  he  or  she  held 
at  the  time  Chapter  751  of  the  Laws  of  1900  went  into  effect,  unless  the 
transfer  is  made  from  a  higher  position  to  a  lower  position,  because  of  ineffi- 
cient service  or  other  sufficient  reason. 

3.  Teachers'  annual  salaries  shall  be  paid  in  twelve  equal  installments,  one 
installment  for  each  month  in  the  calendar  year.     The  installment  for  July 
shall  be  paid,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  on  or  before  the  3oth  of  June  of  each  year. 
The  installment  for  August  shall  be  paid,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  on  or  before 
the  fifteenth  day  of  the  following  September.     In  case  of  a  teacher  who  is 
dismissed  from  the  service  for  cause,  salary  shall  cease  from  the  day  of  sus- 
pension from  service.     In  case  a  teacher's  license  is  not  renewed,  salary  shall 
cease  with  the  termination  of  actual  service. 

4.  One-thirtieth  of  a  month's  salary  shall  be  deducted  for  every  day  of 
absence  on  the  part  of  a  principal,  supervisor  or  teacher,  unless  such  prin- 
cipal, supervisor  or  teacher  is  excused  for  adequate  cause,  in  accordance  with 
these  by-laws;    but  the  aggregate  deductions  in  any  one  month  shall  not 
exceed  the  salary  for  that  month. 

5.  Salaries  of  newly  appointed  teachers  shall  begin  with  the  beginning  of 
actual  and  personal  service  ;  and  all  increase  in  the  pay  of  teachers  shall  begin 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month  immediately  succeeding  the  month  during  which 
the  teacher  shall  become  entitled  thereto  by  reason  of  promotion,  experience 
or  otherwise,  unless  the  teacher  shall  become  entitled  to  the  increase  of  salary 
on  the  first  day  of  the  month. 

6.  The  certificate  of  the  Board  of  Examiners  that  a  principal  or  a  teacher 
has  had  a  certain  number. of  years  of  experience  in  schools  other  than  the 
public  schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  signed  by  the  City  Superintendent  of 
Schools,  and  the  certificate  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents,  signed  by  the 
City  Superintendent  of  Schools,  that  a  principal  or  a  teacher  has  had  any 
number  of  years  of  experience  in  any  part  of  what  is  now  The  City  of  New 
York,  shall  entitle  such  principal  or  teacher  to  the  salary  prescribed  for  the 
stated  year  of  service  by  these  by-laws,  provided  the  work  of  such  principal  or 
teacher  has  been  approved  as  fit  and  meritorious  by  the  Board  of  Superinten- 
dents, as  prescribed  by  the  Revised  Charter.     The  certificate  described  above 
shall  state    (#)  the  years  of  outside  experience  with  which  the  teacher  is 


Appendix  V  405 

credited ;  (d)  the  years  of  experience  the  teacher  has  had  in  the  public  schools 
of  The  City  of  New  York ;  (c)  the  salary  year ;  and  (d)  the  month  during 
which  an  annual  increase  of  salary  shall  become  due.  In  reckoning  service 
in  the  public  schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  service  as  a  substitute  teacher 
or  as  a  teacher  or  principal  in  evening  schools,  vacation  schools  or  playgrounds, 
or  years  of  service  formerly  allowed  in  any  Borough  in  consideration  of  gradu- 
ation from  any  training  school,  normal  school  or  college,  shall  not  be  counted. 

SALARIES  OF  CITY  SUPERINTENDENT,   ASSOCIATE  CITY  SUPERINTENDENTS, 
DISTRICT   SUPERINTENDENTS  AND   EXAMINERS 

7.  The  salary  of  the  City  Superintendent  of  Schools  shall  be  $8000  per 
annum. 

The  salary  of  an  Associate  City  Superintendent  shall  be  $5500  per  annum, 
provided  that  Associate  City  Superintendents  who  as  Borough  Superintendents 
received,  prior  to  February  3,  1902,  more  than  $5500  per  annum  shall  continue 
to  receive  the  salaries  paid  to  them  as  Borough  Superintendents  until  the 
expiration  of  the  terms  for  which  they  were  appointed  as  such  Borough  Super- 
intendents. 

The  salary  of  a  District  Superintendent  hereafter  appointed  shall  be  $5000. 
District  Superintendents  now  in  office  shall  continue  to  receive  the  salaries 
paid  to  them  as  Associate  Borough  Superintendents  prior  to  February  3,  1902, 
until  December  31.  1902,  after  which  date  the  salaries  of  all  District  Super- 
intendents shall  be  $5000  per  annum  each. 

The  salary  of  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Examiners,  other  than  the  City 
Superintendent,  shall  be  $5000  per  annum. 

ELEMENTARY   SCHOOLS  —  PRINCIPALS  AND  HEADS  OF  DEPARTMENTS 

8.  Principals  and  branch  principals  of  schools  of  not  less  then  twelve  (12) 
classes,  including  schools  having  high  school  departments,  shall  be  paid  in 
accordance  with  the  following  schedule  : 

SCHEDULE  I 

(«)  (*) 

Years  Women  Men 

1  $1750  $275° 

2  2000  3000 

3  2250  3250 

4  2500  3500 

The  minimum  salary  for  women  shall  be  $1750;  the  maximum  salary  for 
women  shall  be  $2500  ;  the  rate  of  annual  increase  shall  be  $250.  The  mini- 


406  The  New  York  Public  School 

mum  salary  for  men  shall  be  $2750 ;  the  maximum  salary  for  men  shall  be 
$3500;  the  rate  of  annual  increase  shall  be  $250.  No  increase  for  any  year, 
however,  shall  be  made  unless  the  service  of  the  principal  or  branch  principal 
shall  have  been  approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and  merito- 
rious by  a  majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

9.  Principals  of  schools  of  less  than  twelve  (12)  classes,  but  not  less  than 
five  (5)  classes,  heads  of  departments  and  assistants  to  principals,  shall  be 
paid  in  accordance  with  the  following  schedule : 

SCHEDULE  II 

(a)  0) 

Years  Women  Men 

1  $1400  $2IOO 

2  I50O  2250 

3  1600  2400 

The  minimum  salary  for  women  shall  be  $1400;  the  maximum  salary  shall 
be  $1600;  the  rate  of  annual  increase  shall  be  $100.  The  minimum  salary 
for  men  shall  be  $2100  ;  the  maximum  salary  for  men  shall  be  $2400 ;  the  rate 
of  annual  increase  shall  be  $150.  No  increase  for  any  year,  however,  shall  be 
made  unless  the  service  of  such  principal,  etc.,  shall  have  been  approved  after 
inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and  meritorious  by  a  majority  of  the  Board 
of  Superintendents. 

No  head  of  department  or  assistant  to  principal  shall  receive  a  salary 
greater  than  that  fixed  for  the  seventh  year  of  service  nor  a  salary  greater 
than  that  fixed  for  the  twelfth  year  of  service,  unless  and  until  the  ser- 
vice of  such  head  of  department  or  assistant  to  principal  shall  have  been 
approved,  after  inspection  and  investigation,  as  fit  and  meritorious  by  a 
majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents.  A  head  of  department,  or  assistant 
to  principal,  however,  who  is  credited  by  the  Board  of  Examiners  with  having 
had,  prior  to  his  or  her  appointment  in  the  public  schools  of  The  City  of  New 
York,  more  than  seven  years  of  service  in  schools  other  than  the  public 
schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  shall  receive  the  regular  annual  increase  up 
to  the  twelfth  year  of  service,  when  his  or  her  work  shall  be  passed  upon,  in 
accordance  with  law,  by  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

In  a  school  of  the  fifth  order  the  teacher  acting  as  senior  teacher  in  charge 
of  the  school  shall  receive,  in  addition  to  the  regular  salary,  $100  per  annum. 

TEACHERS  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS  —  WOMEN 

10.  Female  teachers  in  elementary  schools  appointed  to  grades  from  the 
kindergarten  to  the  6  B,  inclusive,  shall  receive  salaries  in  accordance  with  the 
following  schedule : 


Appendix   V  407 

SCHEDULE  III 


Years 


2   . 

3  • 

680 

4  • 

720 

5  • 

76o 

6  . 

800 

7  • 

840 

8  . 

880 

9  • 

920 

IO   . 

960 

ii 

1000 

12   . 

1040 

13   • 

1080 

14   . 

1  120 

15   • 

1160 

16  . 

1200 

17  • 

1240 

Under  this  schedule  the  minimum  salary  shall  be  $600  per  annum ;  the 
maximum,  $1240  per  annum;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $40. 

Female  teachers  of  shopwork  and  of  constructive  work  shall  be  paid  in 
accordance  with  the  salaries  provided  in  Schedule  III. 

Female  teachers  in  elementary  schools  appointed  to  grades  from  the  7  A 
to  the  8  A,  inclusive,  shall  receive  salaries  in  accordance  with  the  following 
schedule : 

Years  SCHEDULE   IV 

I $600 

2 648 

3 696 

4 744 

5 792 

6 840 

7 888 

8 936 

9 ...  984 

10 1032 

ii 1080 

12 1128 

13 IJ76 

14 J224 

15 '272 

16 1320 


408  The  New  York  Public  School 

Under  this  schedule  the  minimum  salary  shall  be  $600  per  annum ;  the 
maximum,  $1320  per  annum;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $48. 

Female  teachers  in  elementary  schools  appointed  to  classes  in  the  8  B 
grade  shall  receive  salaries  in  accordance  with  the  following  schedule : 

Years  SCHEDULE  V 

I $936 

2.o I02O 

3 "04 

4 1188 

5 1272 

6 1356 

7 1440 

Under  this  schedule  the  minimum  salary  shall  be  $936  per  annum ;  the 
maximum  salary  shall  be  $1440  per  annum;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase, 
$84. 

Female  vice-principals  and  first  assistants  shall  receive  pay  under  this 
schedule. 

No  female  teacher  in  the  elementary  schools  shall  receive  a  salary  greater 
than  that  fixed  for  the  seventh  year  of  service,  nor  a  salary  greater  than  that 
fixed  for  the  twelfth  year  of  service,  unless  and  until  the  service  of  such 
teacher  shall  have  been  approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and 
meritorious  by  a  majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents.  A  teacher,  how- 
ever, who  is  credited  by  the  Board  of  Examiners  with  having  had,  prior  to 
her  appointment  in  the  public  schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  more  than 
seven  years  of  service  in  the  schools  other  than  the  public  schools  of  The  City 
of  New  York,  shall  receive  the  regular  annual  increase  up  to  the  twelfth  year 
of  service,  when  her  work  shall  be  passed  upon,  in  accordance  with  law,  by 
the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

FEMALE  TEACHERS  OF  BOYS'  AND  MIXED   CLASSES 

ii.  A  female  teacher  of  a  boys1  class,  or  of  a  mixed  class  as  defined  in 
subdivision  i  of  this  section,  shall  receive  the  sum  of  $60  per  annum  in  addi- 
tion to  the  schedule  rate  of  pay  to  which  she  may  be  entitled  by  reason  of 
length  of  service  or  grade  of  class  taught,  said  sum  to  be  paid  in  monthly 
installments  and  included  in  the  amount  due  on  the  payroll,  but  only  as  long 
as  said  female  teacher  shall  remain  in  charge  of  a  boys1  class  or  a  mixed  class, 
as  defined  in  subdivision  i  of  this  section.  The  principal  of  the  school  in 
which  said  teacher  is  employed  shall  indicate  in  writing  on  the  monthly  pay- 
roll, against  the  name  of  such  teacher,  the  fact  that  such  teacher  is  entitled  to 
the  additional  compensation. 


Appendix   V  409 

TEACHERS  IN  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS  — MEN 

12.  Male  teachers  teaching  in  any  grade  below  the  highest,  and  in  the 
highest  when  that  grade  is  taught  in  the  same  class  with  a  lower  grade,  shall 
receive  salaries  in  accordance  with  the  following  schedule : 

Years  SCHEDULE  VI 

I $9°° 

2 1005 

3 1 1 10 

4 1215 

5 1320 

6 1425 

7 1530 

8 1635 

9 1740 

10 1845 

ii 1950 

12  .. 2055 

13 2l6o 

Under  this  schedule  the  minimum  salary  shall  be  $900;  the  maximum, 
$2160;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $105. 

Male  teachers  of  shopwork  shall  be  paid  in  accordance  with  the  schedule 
for  male  teachers  below  the  highest  grade. 

Male  teachers  in  elementary  schools  appointed  to  classes  in  the  8  B  grade 
shall  receive  salaries  in  accordance  with  the  following  schedule : 

Years  SCHEDULE  VII 

I  $1500 

2 1650 

3 1800 

4 1950 

5 2100 

6 2250 

7 2400 

Under  this  schedule  the  minimum  salary  shall  be  $1500  per  annum;  the 
maximum,  $2400;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $150. 

Male  vice-principals  and  first  assistants  shall  receive  pay  under  this  schedule. 
No  male  teacher  in  the  elementary  schools  shall  receive  a  salary  greater 
than  that  fixed  for  the  seventh  year  of  service,  nor  a  salary  greater  than  that 
fixed  for  the  twelfth  year  of  service,  unless  and  until  the  service  of  such  teacher 
shall  have  been  approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and  meri- 
torious by  a  majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents.  A  teacher,  however, 
who  is  credited  by  the  Board  of  Examiners  with  having  had,  prior  to  his  ap- 
pointment in  the  elementary  schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  more  than 


The  New  York  Public  School 


seven  years  of  experience  in  schools  other  than  the  public  schools  of  The  City 
of  New  York,  shall  receive  the  regular  annual  increase  up  to  the  twelfth  year 
of  service,  when  his  work  shall  be  passed  upon,  in  accordance  with  law,  by  the 
Board  of  Superintendents. 

SUBSTITUTES   IN   ELEMENTARY   SCHOOLS 

13.  Male  substitutes  shall  receive  $3  and  female  substitutes  $2.50  per  day 
of  actual  service,  except  as  provided  in  subdivision  3  of  Section  52  and  except 
normal  school  students  licensed  under  clause  (/)  of  Section  68,  who  shall  be 
paid  at  the  rate  of  $1.50  per  day  of  actual  service. 

Teachers  appointed  for  a  specified  time,  if  such  time  is  less  than  five  school 
months,  shall  receive  the  pay  of  substitutes. 

Kindergarten  helpers  shall  receive  $2.50  per  day  of  actual  service. 

Substitutes  for  teachers  of  special  branches  shall  receive  $2.50  per  day  of 
actual  service. 

HIGH   SCHOOLS  —  SALARIES  OF  PRINCIPALS 
SCHEDULE  VIII 

14.  (a)   A  principal  of  a  high  school  having  supervision  of  not  less  than 
twenty-five  teachers  therein  shall  receive  a  salary  of  five  thousand  dollars  per 
annum. 

(b)  A  principal  of  a  high  school  having  supervision  of  less  than  twenty- 
five  teachers  shall  receive  three  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum. 

TEACHERS  IN  HIGH   SCHOOLS 

15.  Teachers  in  high  schools  shall  receive  salaries  in  accordance  with  the 
following  schedule : 

SCHEDULE  IX 


YEARS 

JUNIOR  TEACHERS  et  al. 

ASSISTANT  (REG.)  TEACHER 

FIRST  ASSISTANT 

to 

Women 

pj 

Men 

w 

Women 

(rf) 

Men 

w 

Women 

(/) 
Men 

I 

$700 

$900 

$1100 

$1300 

$2OOO 

$2500 

2 

750 

950 

1180 

1410 

2100 

2600 

3 

800 

1000 

1200 

1520 

2200 

2700 

4 

850 

1050 

1340 

1630 

2300 

2800 

5 

900 

1  100 

1420 

1740 

2400 

2900 

6 

950 

1150 

1500 

1850 

2500 

3000 

7 

1000 

1200 

1580 

I960 





8 



1660 

2070 





9 





1740 

2180 





10 



1820 

2290 





ii 





1900 

2400 



Appendix   V  411 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  female  junior  or  substitute  teacher,  female  labo- 
ratory or  library  assistant,  or  female  clerk,  shall  be  $700  per  annum;  the 
maximum  salary  shall  be  $1000  per  annum ;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase 
shall  be  $50. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  male  junior  or  substitute  teacher,  or  male  labo- 
ratory or  library  assistant,  or  male  clerk,  shall  be  $900  per  annum ;  the  maxi- 
mum, $1200  per  annum  ;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase  shall  be  $50. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  female  regular  teacher  in  a  high  school  shall  be 
$1100  per  annum;  the  maximum,  $1900  per  annum;  and  the  rate  of  annual 
increase  shall  be  $80. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  male  regular  teacher  in  a  high  school  shall  be 
$1300  per  annum;  the  maximum,  $2400  per  annum;  and  the  rate  of  annual 
increase,  $110. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  female  first  assistant  (head  teacher,  assistant  to 
principal,  or  vice-principal)  in  a  high  school  shall  be  $2000  per  annum ;  the 
maximum,  $2500  per  annum  ;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $100. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  male  first  assistant  (head  teacher,  assistant  to 
principal,  or  vice-principal)  shall  be  $2500  per  annum ;  the  maximum,  $3000 
per  annum  ;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase  shall  be  $100. 

No  teacher  in  a  high  school  shall  receive  a  salary  greater  than  that  fixed 
for  the  fourth  year  of  service,  nor  a  salary  greater  than  that  fixed  for  the  ninth 
year  of  service,  unless  and  until  the  service  of  such  teacher  shall  have  been 
approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and  meritorious  by  a  majority 
of  the  Board  of  Superintendents.  A  teacher,  however,  who  is  credited  by  the 
Board  of  Examiners  with  having  had,  prior  to  his  appointment  in  the  high 
schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  more  than  four  years  of  experience  in 
schools  other  than  the  public  schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  shall  receive 
the  regular  annual  increase  up  to  the  ninth  year  of  service,  when  his  work 
shall  be  passed  upon,  in  accordance  with  law,  by  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

The  salary  of  a  teacher  transferred  from  an  elementary  school  to  a  high 
school  shall  not  be  diminished  by  reason  of  such  transfer. 

The  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  per  annum  shall  be  paid  to  any  regular 
high  school  teacher  assigned  to  take  charge  of  a  high  school  annex  containing 
ten  or  more  classes,  in  addition  to  the  salary  to  which  such  teacher  is  entitled 
by  reason  of  experience.  No  part  of  said  sum  of  five  hundred  dollars  shall  be 
paid  to  any  high  school  teacher  after  he  or  she  ceases  to  have  charge  of  a  high 
school  annex. 

TRAINING   SCHOOLS   FOR   TEACHERS  —  SALARIES  OF  PRINCIPALS 
SCHEDULE  X 

16.  A  principal  of  a  training  school  for  teachers,  having  supervision  of  not 
less  than  twenty-five  teachers  therein,  shall  receive  a  salary  of  $5000  per 


412 


The  New  York  Public  School 


annum.     In  the  number  of  teachers  shall  be  reckoned  model  teachers,  critic 
teachers,  regular  teachers  and  first  assistants. 

SALARIES   OF   TEACHERS   IN   TRAINING   SCHOOLS 

17.  Teachers   in   training  schools  for  teachers  shall  receive  salaries  in 
accordance  with  the  following  schedule : 

SCHEDULE   XI 


LIBRARY  ASSISTANT 

w 

ASSISTANT  (REG.) 
TEACHER 

FIRST  ASSISTANT 

YEARS 

MODEL 

(«) 

(*) 

(d) 

W 

CO 

Cr) 

TEACHER 

Women 

Men 

Women 

Men 

Women 

Men 

I 

$700 

$900 

$1000 

$1100 

$1300 

$2000 

$2500 

2 

750 

95° 

1  100 

1180 

1410 

2100 

2600 

3 

800 

IOOO 

1200 

1260 

1520 

2200 

2700 

4 

850 

1050 

I3OO 

1340 

1630 

2300 

2800 

5 

QOO 

IIOO 

1400 

1420 

1740 

2400 

2900 

6 

950 

1150 

1500 

1500 

1850 

2500 

3000 

7 

1000 

1200 



1580 

1960 



8 







1660 

2070 





9 







1740 

2180 





10 



— 



1820 

2290 





ii 







1900 

2400 





The  minimum  salary  for  a  female  laboratory  or  library  assistant,  or  female 
clerk,  shall  be  $700  per  annum;  the  maximum  salary  shall  be  $1000  per 
annum ;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $50. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  male  laboratory  or  library  assistant  or  clerk 
shall  be  $900  per  annum;  the  maximum  salary  shall  be  $1200  per  annum; 
and  the  rate  of  annual  increase  shall  be  $50. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  model  teacher  shall  be  $1000  per  annum;  the 
maximum  salary  shall  be  $1500  per  annum;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase 
shall  be  $100.  The  critic  teachers  shall  receive  the  same  salaries  as  model 
teachers. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  female  regular  teacher  in  a  training  school  shall 
be  $1100  per  annum;  the  maximum  salary  shall  be  $1900;  and  the  rate  of 
annual  increase  shall  be  $80. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  male  regular  teacher  in  a  training  school  shall 
be  $1300  per  annum;  the  maximum  salary  shall  be  $2400  per  annum;  and 
the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $110. 


Appendix  V  413 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  female  first  assistant  (head  teacher,  assistant  to 
principal,  or  vice-principal)  in  a  training  school  shall  be  $2000  per  annum  ;  the 
maximum  salary  shall  be  $2500;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $100. 

The  minimum  salary  for  a  male  first  assistant  (head  teacher,  assistant  to 
principal,  or  vice-principal)  shall  be  $2500  per  annum ;  the  maximum  salary 
shall  be  $3000  per  annum  ;  and  the  rate  of  annual  increase,  $100. 

No  teacher  in  a  training  school  shall  receive  a  salary  greater  than  that 
fixed  for  the  fourth  year  of  service,  nor  a  salary  greater  than  that  fixed  for  the 
ninth  year  of  service,  unless  and  until  the  service  of  such  teacher  shall  have 
been  approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and  meritorious  by  a 
majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents.  A  teacher,  however,  who  is 
credited  by  the  Board  of  Examiners  with  having  had,  prior  to  his  appointment 
in  the  training  schools  of  The  City  of  New  York,  more  than  four  years'  ex- 
perience in  schools  other  than  the  public  schools  of  The  City  of  New  York, 
shall  receive  the  regular  increase  up  to  the  ninth  year  of  service,  when  his 
work  shall  be  passed  upon,  in  accordance  with  law,  by  the  Board  of  Super- 
intendents. 

The  salary  of  a  teacher  transferred  from  an  elementary  school  to  a  training 
school  shall  not  be  diminished  by  reason  of  such  transfer. 

SPECIAL   BRANCHES  —  DIRECTORS  AND  ASSISTANT  DIRECTORS 
SCHEDULE   XII 

1 8.  (a)  Male  directors  of  music,  manual  training  and  drawing,  and  physi- 
cal training,  elected  or  appointed  for  the  City  at  large,  shall  receive  $3500  for 
the  first  year  of  service,  and  an  annual  increase  of  $100  until  the  maximum  of 
$4000  is  reached,  which  shall  be  the  salary  for  the  sixth  year  and  for  succeed- 
ing years. 

(£)  Female  directors  of  music,  manual  training  and  drawing,  and  physical 
training,  elected  or  appointed  for  the  City  at  large,  shall  receive  $2000  for  the 
first  year  of  service,  and  an  annual  increase  of  $100  until  the  maximum  of 
$2500  is  reached,  which  shall  be  the  salary  for  the  sixth  year  and  for  suc- 
ceeding years. 

SCHEDULE    XIII 

(a)  Male  assistant  directors  of  music,  manual  training  and  drawing,  and 
physical  training,  shall  receive  $2500  for  the  first  year  of  service,  and  an 
annual  increase  of  $100  until  the  maximum  of  $3000  is  reached,  which  shall 
be  the  salary  for  the  sixth  year  and  for  succeeding  years. 

(b}  Female  assistant  directors  of  music,  manual  training  and  drawing,  and 
physical  training,  shall  receive  $2000  for  the  first  year  of  service,  and  an 
annual  increase  of  $100  until  the  maximum  of  $2500  is  reached,  which  shall  be 
the  salary  for  the  sixth  year  and  for  succeeding  years. 


414  The  New  York  Public  School 


SCHEDULE  XIV 

Directors  of  kindergartens  shall  receive  $2000  for  the  first  year  of  service, 
and  an  annual  increase  of  $100  until  the  maximum  of  $2700  is  reached,  which 
shall  be  the  salary  for  the  eighth  year  and  for  succeeding  years. 

SCHEDULE   XV 

Directors  of  cooking  and  sewing  shall  receive  $2000  for  the  first  year  of 
service  and  an  annual  increase  of  $100  until  the  maximum  of  $2500  is  reached, 
which  shall  be  the  salary  for  the  sixth  year  and  succeeding  years. 

No  increase  for  any  year  shall  be  made  in  the  salary  of  any  director, 
assistant  director  or  teacher  of  a  special  branch,  unless  the  service  of  such 
director,  assistant  director  or  teacher  of  a  special  branch  shall  have  been 
approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and  meritorious  by  a  majority 
of  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

TEACHERS  AND  ASSISTANT   SUPERVISORS   OF  SPECIAL  BRANCHES 

19.  Teachers  and  assistant  supervisors  of  special  branches  in  the  elemen- 
tary schools  shall  receive  salaries  in  accordance  with  the  following  schedules : 

SCHEDULE  XVI 
TEACHERS  OF  MUSIC  AND  DRAWING 

(a)  (*) 

Years  Women  Men 

I $IOOO  $1200 

2 IIOO  1300 

3  ........  i 200  1400 

4 1300  1500 

5 1400  1600 

SCHEDULE  XVII 
TEACHERS  OF  PHYSICAL   TRAINING 

O)  (*) 

Years  Women  Men 

I $900  $I2OO 

2 IOOO  1300 

3 1100  1400 

4 1200  1500 

5 1600 

Men  substitute  teachers  of  physical  training  shall  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  $4 
per  day. 


Appendix  V  415 

SCHEDULE   XVIII 

TEACHERS   OF  COOKING   AND   SEWING 
Years  Salary 

I $900 

2 1000 

3 IIOO 

4 1200 

SCHEDULE    XIX 
TEACHERS  OF   FRENCH   AND   GERMAN 

00  (*) 

Years  Women  Men 

I $1000  $1200 

2     .........  IIOO  I3OO 

3 1200  1400 

4 1300  1500 

5 1400  1600 

20.  Principals,  general  assistants,  heads  of  departments,  and  assistants  in 
evening  high  and  elementary  schools  shall  be  paid  in  accordance  with  the  fol- 
lowing schedule  for  each  evening  of  actual  service : 

SCHEDULE   XX 

EVENING   SCHOOLS 

Per  evening 

Principals  of  evening  high  schools  .  .  .  .  $7  oo 

Assistants  in  evening  high  schools  .  .  .  5  oo 

Principals  of  evening  elementary  schools  .  .  5  oo 

Assistants  in  evening  elementary  schools  .  .  3  oo 
General  assistants  and  heads  of  departments  in  evening 

schools 3  oo 

Teachers  in  charge  of  evening  elementary  schools  having 

no  principals 4  oo 

2 1 .  Supervisors,  assistant  supervisors,  principals,  teachers,  kindergartners, 
kindergarten  helpers,  substitutes,  and  clerks  in  the  vacation  schools  shall  be 
paid  in  accordance  with  the  following  schedule  for  each  day  of  actual  service : 

SCHEDULE  XXI 

Per  day 

Supervisors $6  oo 

Assistant  supervisors 4  50 

Principals 4  50 

Teachers 3  oo 

Kindergartners 3  oo 

Kindergarten  helpers i  50 

Substitutes  and  clerks i  50 


4i 6  The  New  York  Public  School 

Supervisors,  assistant  supervisors,  principals,  teachers,  assistant  teachers, 
librarians,  and  pianists  in  the  vacation  playgrounds  shall  be  paid  in  accord- 
ance with  the  following  schedule  for  each  day  of  actual  service  : 

SCHEDULE   XXII 

Per  day 

Supervisors      .         .         .        .        .        .        .        .        .  $6  oo 

Assistant  supervisors 4  50 

Principals 4  oo 

Teachers 2  50 

Assistant  teachers    .        .        .        .        •        .        •  I  75 

Librarians         .........  I  50 

Pianists            i  75 

Supervisors  and  teachers  in  the  swimming  schools  shall  be  paid  in  accord- 
ance with  the  following  schedule  for  each  day  of  actual  service : 

SCHEDULE   XXIII 

Per  day 

Supervisors      .        .        .        .        .        .        .        •         .    $5  oo 

Teachers 2  oo 

Principals,  teachers,  assistant  teachers,  librarians,  pianists,  bath  teachers, 
and  junior  assistants  in  the  recreation  centres  shall  be  paid  in  accordance  with 
the  following  schedule  for  each  session  of  actual  service : 

SCHEDULE  XXIV 

Per  session 

Principals $4  oo 

Teachers 2  50 

Assistant  teachers       .......  '5° 

Librarians 2  50 

Pianists 2  oo 

Bath  teachers 2  oo 

Junior  assistants I  oo 

SCHEDULE  XXV 

An  inspector  of  playgrounds  and  recreation  centres  shall  be  paid  an  annual 
salary  of  $1500. 

22.  Principals  and  teachers  in  truant  schools  shall  be  paid  in  accordance 
with  the  following  schedules : 


Appendix   V  417 

TRUANT   SCHOOLS 
SCHEDULE   XXVI 

PRINCIPAL  OR   HEAD   MASTER,   IF  BOARDED  AND  LODGED 

Years 

I        $1800 

2 IQOO 

3 2000 

4 2100 

SCHEDULE   XXVH 

PRINCIPAL  OR   HEAD  MASTER,   IF  NOT   BOARDED  AND  LODGED 
Years 

I $2200 

2 2300 

3 2400 

4 2500 

No  increase  for  any  year  shall  be  made  unless  the  service  of  the  principal 
or  head  master  shall  have  been  approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as 
fit  and  meritorious  by  a  majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

Male  teachers  in  truant  schools,  and  male  teachers  of  ungraded  classes 
who  hold  regular  elementary  school  licenses,  shall  be  paid  in  accordance  with 
Schedule  VI. 

Male  teachers  holding  special  truant  school  licenses  shall  be  paid  in 
accordance  with  the  following  schedule : 

SCHEDULE  XXVin 

Years 

I $90° 

2 975 

3 1050 

4 1125 

5 1200 

6 1275 

7 1350 

8 1425 

9 1500 

10 1575 

ii 1650 

12 1725 

13 I800 

2  E 


418  The  New  York  Public  School 

The  minimum  salary  shall  be  $900,  the  maximum  $1800,  and  the  rate  of 
annual  increase  $75. 

No  male  teacher  in  a  truant  school  shall  receive  a  salary  greater  than  that 
fixed  for  the  seventh  year  of  service,  nor  a  salary  greater  than  that  fixed  for 
the  twelfth  year  of  service,  unless  and  until  the  service  of  such  teacher  shall 
have  been  approved  after  inspection  and  investigation  as  fit  and  meritorious 
by  a  majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

Women  teachers  in  truant  schools  and  teachers  of  ungraded  classes  who 
hold  regular  elementary  school  licenses  shall  be  paid  in  accordance  with 
Schedule  IV. 

Women  teachers  holding  special  truant  school  licenses  shall  be  paid  in 
accordance  with  Schedule  III. 

No  woman  teacher  in  a  truant  school  shall  receive  a  salary  greater  than 
that  fixed  for  the  seventh  year  of  service,  nor  a  salary  greater  than  that  fixed 
for  the  twelfth  year  of  service,  unless  and  until  the  service  of  such  teacher  shall 
have  been  approved,  after  inspection  and  investigation,  as  fit  and  meritorious 
by  a  majority  of  the  Board  of  Superintendents. 

Regularly  appointed  teachers  assigned  as  additional  teachers  shall  be  paid 
in  accordance  with  Schedule  III.  Other  persons  assigned  as  additional  teach- 
ers shall  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  $3  per  day  of  actual  service. 


APPENDIX  VI 


MEMBERS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 


1842-1898 


Adams,  John  T.      .     . 

i8s3—  S4 

Begg,  Michael 

10^-y-5J 
18^9—60 

Adams,  Richard  H. 

igoc-qg 

Belden  William 

1882  84 

f  1855-56 

Bell,  Abraham 

f  1842-47 

Adams,  Walter  W.      . 

'11858-59 
.     .     .     1862-65 

Bell,  Edward      

\  1849-50 
1803 

f  i860—  7O 

Bell,  Isaac     

i   louy—  f\j 

Agnew,  Mrs.  Mary  N. 

.     .     .     1887-90 

Benedict,  Erastus  C.   .    .    . 

\  1877-87 
f  1849-54 

'  1  i8s7—  61 

Albertson,  Joseph  C.  . 

.     „     .     1846-47 

Beneville,  Emile      .... 

\.  xo^j/—  uj 

1  80,  •?—  06 

Aldis,  William  H.  .     . 

i8ci—  cj. 

Blackburn   Joseph 

i8ci   HA 

Allason,  William    .     . 

I8SS-S6 

Blackston,  Wyllis   .          .     . 

•     l°5l  54 
i8cc 

f  1844-46 

Bleecker,  James  W.    .     .     . 

.     1845-49 

Amend,  Bernard 

'U866-68 
.    .    .     1880-82 

Bloomfield,  Smith.       .     .     . 
Bloomfield   William 

.     1866 
i8c8—  co 

Boese,  Thomas  

10JJO—  ^y 

1  8*  6-iJ  7 

Anderson,  E.  Ellery    . 

.    .    .     1897-98 

Bogert,  Jacob  C  

.     1862-65 

Anderson,  William  T. 

.     .     ,      1  841:  -47 

.     1862-64 

Andrews,  Walter  E.    . 
Andrews,  William  D. 
Auld,  Samuel 

.     .     .     1896-98 
.     .     .     1859-60 
i8c7-c8 

Bonnel,  Hezekiah  W.      .     . 
Bootman,  Eliphalet     .     .     . 

.     1842-43 
.     1856-57 

ft  8/1  7     AA 

Avery,  William  H  . 

I8C6-S7 

Bosworth,  Joseph  S.     .    .    . 

10<to  44 

Boyce,  Gerardus     .... 

f  1843-45 

Baker,  David  F.     .     . 

\  1848—50 

Baldwin,  Simeon    .     . 

i8s6-S7 

Boyd  John 

i8co—  C2 

Bannard,  Otto  T.    .     . 

1807-08 

Bradford  Nathaniel  G 

i8co—  si 

Barnes,  Joseph  N.  .     . 

.    .     .     I84S-47 

1848-40 

Barrow,  Henry  H. 

.    .    .     I8S3-S4 

i8s8-SQ 

Brennan  Timothy 

1860-77 

Beadle,  Edward  L.      . 

.    .     .     1852-55 

Brooker,  Stephen  .... 

i8s6-S7 

Beardslee,  Rufus  G. 

1872-8? 

Brown.  John  Crosbv    . 

I877-7A 

419 


420 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Brown,  Josiah  W 1856-57 

f 1861-62 

Brown,  Thomas <    0 ,     , 

1. 1004—05 

Brummell,  Adonijah  H.  .     .     .  1858-59 

Buck,  Leander 1869 

Buckley,  William 1861-62 

Burlew,  Richard 1856-57 

Burlingham,  Charles  C.    .     .     .  1897-98 

Burr  ill,  John  E 1866 

Bush,  James  W 1854 

Byrne,  Andrew  L 1858-61 

Cantrell,  Samuel 1859-60 

Carey,  Edward  L 1863-64 

Carrigan,  Andrew 1843-48 

Carter,  Luther  C 1853 

Gary,  Jeremiah  E {  '®49'51 


Case,  Andrew  J 1855-56 

Castle,  William 1843-45 

Cavanagh,  James 1 860-61 

Caylus,  Ernest 1876 

Chardavoyne,  Thomas  C.     .     .  1844-46 

Chipp,  Charles  J 1 866 

Cisco,  John  J 1843-44 

Clark,  George  H 1857-58 

Clark,  Gerardus 1842-45 

Coger,  Daniel 1858-61 

Cohen,  Bernard 1 877-79 

Cole,  William  A 1886-89 

Coleman,  James  S 1 893-95 

Collins,  John  H 1861-62 

Collins,  Joseph  B 1853-54 

Collins,  Philip 1848-50 

Colon,  John  R 1843-45 

Conely,  William  S 1843-49 

Conger,  John 1843-44 

Connelly,  Edmond       ....  1863-64 

Cook,  James  H 1847-49 

Cooledge,  William  P.       ...  1853-54 

Coop,  Otto  H 1867-69 

Cooper,  Peter 1 853-54 

Cornell,  George  J 1848-50 

Coudert,  Frederic  R 1881-83 


Covert,  George  H. 

.     .     .     1850-52 

Crapo,  Samuel  A.   .     . 

(  1845-50 
t  1852-53 

.    .     .     1885  88 

Crawford,  Gilbert  H.  . 

.    .    .     1881-86 

Crosby,  John  Schuyler 

.    .     .     1892-93 

.    .    .     1845-47 

Crozier,  Hugh  G.   .     . 

.    .    .     1858-61 

Cruikshank,  James 

.    .    .     1848-50 

Curtis,  Benjamin  F.     . 

.    .    .     1851-52 

.    .    .     1853-54 

Curtis,  William  E.  '     . 

.    .    .     1858-63 

.    .    .     1858-59 

Daly,  Timothy  .    .     . 

.    .    .     1848-51 

.    .    .     1853-61 

.    .    .     1847-49 

Davis,  Abraham  B. 

f  1847-49 
'^-1851-53 

Davison,  William  S.    . 

•    •    •     1854 

.    .    .     1855 

De  Lamater,  John 

c  1842-43 
'1  1853-55 

.    .    .    1843-44 

Denike,  Abraham  .     . 

.    .    .     1854-57 

Denny,  Thomas      .     . 

.    .    .    1845-52 

De  Peyster,  James  F. 

.    .    .    1853-54 

r  1881-86 

Devoe,  Frederick  W. 

'    '    'U888-9I 

Dodge,  Charles  J.  .     . 

.    .    .    1846-53 

Dodge,  Miss  Grace  H. 

.    .    .    1887-89 

Donnelly,  Edward  C. 

.    .    .    1878-81 

Doremus,  Thomas  C. 

.    .    .    1844-45 

Dougherty,  Charles  J. 

.    .    .    1859-60 

Dowd,  William       .     . 

.    .    •    1873-83 

Drexel,  Joseph  W. 

.    .    .    1881-82 

.    .    .     1845-46 

Duke,  William  S. 

.    .    .     1849-51 

.    .    .    1846-48 

Dunning,  William 

.    .    .     1852-53 

Dupignac,  James  B 

.    .    .     1861-69 

Duryea,  William  E.     . 

.    .    .    1868-73 

Eager,  William  B.,  Jr. 

.    .    .    1857-60 

Appendix  VI 


421 


Ebling,  Joseph  E.        .     . 
Edgerton,  Abel  T.       .     . 

•     •     1852-53 
.     .     1848-50 
1856-57 

Gilmartin,  Thomas      .     .     . 
Glover,  Robert  O.        ... 
Goodenough,  Samuel  J.  .     . 

.     1849-51 
.     1859-60 
1852—53 

Elias  Albert  J         ... 

1  804-Q  5 

Gould,  Robert  S  

1850-62 

Elting  William  H       .     . 

I85I—52 

Goulden,  Joseph  A.     .     .     . 

I  80  3—  Q  5 

Ely,  Elias  H  

Goulding,  Lawrence  G.   .     . 

1876-78 

Ely,  Smith,  Jr  

l872-7T 

Gray,  John  F.,  M.D.    .     .     . 

1846-4.8 

Emmet  Thomas  Addis    . 

184^—47 

Gray,  Richard  S  

1856-57 

England   I   W 

I87I—72 

f  I  868-60 

Gray,  William  H  

Engs,  Philip  W.      ... 

f  1842-45 

1  1890-93 

Euring,  Francis  V.       .     . 
Eustis  John  E              .     . 

I  1847-49 
.      .      1868-69 
1807-08 

Green,  Andrew  H.      ... 
Green  John  ...... 

.    1855-60 

1855-56 

Greenough,  William   . 

1807-08 

Gregory,  Harvey  H.    . 

.     1860-61 

Fairchild  Benjamin  P 

I  864-6  c 

Gross,  Magnus    ..... 

1860^73 

1850-60 

Guggenheimer,  Randolph    . 

1887-95 

Fancher,  Enoch  L.      .     . 
Farley.  Terence       ... 

.    .     1871-72 
1857-60 

Gunther,  C.  Godfrey  .     .     . 

.     1861-62 

f  l85Q—  6? 

Haines  Provost  S.  .     .     .     • 

1857-58 

Farr,  James  \V.       ... 

\  1873—  75 

Hall,  Francis      

1842-45 

Fell,  J.  Weldon       .     .     . 

1852—54. 

Hall,  Thomas  J  

.     1868-69 

f  1846-50 

Hall,  William     

Fellows,  Edward  B.     .     . 

Fellows,  Richard  C.    .     . 
Field   Charles  D          .     . 

•\i854-55 
.    .    1857-58 
1852—53 

Halsted,  James  M.      .     .     . 
Halsted,  Schureman    .     .     . 

.     1873-79 
.     1842-43 
1842-43 

Fitzgerald  Thomas 

1858-50 

184.2-43 

Fitzpatrick,  Jeremiah 
Flagg,  William             .     . 

.    .    1861-62 
1850-51 

Harris,  R.  Duncan      .     .     . 

.     1891-95 

f  I^Af-AA 

Flynn  James           .     . 

.    .    1880-82 

Harris,  Townsend  .... 

'\l846-48 

Foote   John                  .     . 

1853 

Ford,  Patrick     .... 

.    .    1861-63 

Haskett,  William  Jay      .    . 

1857-58 

Fowler  Boltis  M.   .     .     . 

1855-56 

.        1864-65 

Fraser,  Edward  A.      .    . 
Fuller,  Lawson  N.       .    . 

Gale  William         .     .     . 

f  1844-46 
'I  1851-53 
.    .    1874-76 

Hatfield,  Abraham      .    .    . 
Havemeyer,  George  L.    .     . 
Hawks,  Thomas  E.  B.     .     . 
Haws,  J.  H.  Hobart    .     .     . 

.        1842-45 

.        1846-47 
.         1869 
.         1849-51 
.        1863-67 

Gallaway  Robert  M    .     . 

1885-00 

1863-64 

.    .    1861-62 

Hazeltine,  Leonard     .     . 

.         1875-78 

i  SQO-Q  5 

Healy  Owen           .... 

1867-60 

Getty  Robert  P.     ... 

Heath,  Edward  B.       ... 

.        1862-65 

Gildersleeve  David  H 

1860-61 

Henry   Tames  F           ... 

1856-57 

Gildersleve.  Charles  E. 

1858-61 

Herrick,  John  L 

1850-51 

422 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Herring,  William 1875 

Hibbard,  William l852-55 

Hills,  Samuel  A 1854 

Hilton,  Joseph 1852-53 

Hitchman,  William     ....  1863-67 

Hoe,  Robert 1873 

Holden,  Horace 1842-43 

Holland,  Josiah  G 1872-73 

Holt,  Charles  L 1885-96 

Hooper,  John 1854-57 

Hopper,  Isaac  A 1891-93 

Horan,  James  F 1862-65 

Hubbell,  Charles  Bulkley     .     .  1890-98 

Huggins,  John  P 1863-64 

Hull,  John  C 1855-56 

Hunt,  John  L.  N 1889-96 

Hunt,  Wilson  G 1847-49 

Hurlbut,  William  H 1895-98 

Hurry,  Edmond 1849-51 

Ingersoll,  Lorin 1869-72 

Irwin,  James  H ^54 

Ivins,  William  M 1883-85 


Jackson,  David  S.,  Jr. 
Jackson,  Peter  H.  .     . 

Jarvis,  Jay      .... 

Jarvis,  Nathaniel,  Jr.  . 
Jasper,  John  .... 

Jelliffe,  Samuel  G.  .  . 

Jenkins,  Edward  O.  . 

Jennett,  William     .  . 

Jeremiah,  Thomas  .  . 

Johnson,  Isaac  A.  .  . 

Johnson,  Leonard  L.  . 

Jones,  Alanson  S.  .  . 

Jones,  William,  Jr.      . 


1863-64 

1867-69 

1846-50 

1854 

1870-73 

1868-69 

1877-79 

1872-75 

1863-64 

1842-44 

1842-46 

^54-55 

^52-55 

1853 

1855-56 


Kaiser,  John,  Jr 1869 

Kane,  J.  Grenville 1876-77 

Kasmire,  Andrew  J 1864 


Katzenberg,  Julius       ....  1877-81 

Kelly,  Eugene 1873-85 

Kelly,  Hugh 1895-98 

Kelly,  Patrick 1846-48 

Kelly,  Robert 1847-50 

Kennedy,  Thomas 1861-62 

Kerr,  David  B 1857 

Ketchum,  Alexander  P.  ...  1895-98 

Ketch um,  Edgar 1853 

King,  David  H.,  Jr 1890-91 

King,  James  G.,  Jr 1846-51 

Kinney,  Owen 1863-64 

Kirby,  Spencer 1851 

Klamroth,  Albert 1873-76 

Knox,  Charles  H 1892-95 

Koster,  Charles 1864 

Kuhne,  Frederick 1889-90 

Kuster,  George 1866 


Landon,  Thomas  H.  .  .  . 
Langdon,  James  .... 

Larremore,  Richard  L.    .    . 

Lawlor,  Robert  T.  ... 
Lawrence,  Richard  .  .  . 
Lawrence,  S.  Sterry,  M.D.  . 

Lawton,  Cyrus 

Lecomte,  Vincent  M.       .     . 

Lee,  James  P 

Lee,  Oliver  H 

Leggett,  Thomas  H.  .  .  . 
Leggett,  William  F.  .  .  . 
Leveridge,  John  W.  C.  .  . 

Lewis,  Charles  V 

Lewis,  Samuel  A 

Lewis,  Tayler 

Lieber,  Francis 


Little,  Joseph  J.  . 
Livingston,  George 
Lummis,  William  . 


Lydecker,  John  R. 


1866 
1861-62 
1862-63 
1867-70 

1854-55 

1849-51 

1844-46 

1851-53 

1857-5* 

1897-98 

1858-59 

1844-48 

1842-43 

1853-54 

1873-75 

1869-73 

1847-49 

1864-65 

1891 

1895-98 

1892-95 

1886-88 

1890-93 

1857-58 

i 860-6 I 


Appendix   VI 


423 


Mack,  Jacob  W  ......     1895-98 

MacKean,  James    .  .  {    .?     ? 

\  1861-62 

Maclay,  Robert       .....  1891-98 

Maher,  Patrick  ......  1864-65 

Man,  Albon  P  .......  1  873-75 

Mandeville,  William  ....  1842-43 

Manierre,  Benjamin  F.    .     .     .  1878-80 

Marriner,  James      .....  1858-62 


Mason,  John  L  ......  1845-47 

Matthewson,  A.  J  ......  1873-76 

McBarron,  James  W  .....  1890-95 

McCabe,  Hugh  ......  1858-59 

McCarthy,  Denis   "  .....  1860-62 

McCarthy,  Florence    ....  1855-56 

McCay,  Charles      .....  1859-60 

McCloskey,  D.  W.  C.      .    .    .  1854-55 

McGuire,  Joseph     .....  1  860-61 

McLaughlin,  John  A.      ...  1863-64 

McLean,  James  M  .....  1863-67 

McLean,  John   ......  1848-52 

McMahon,  John     .....  1844-46 

McSpedon,  Thomas    .    .    .    . 

McSweeny,  Daniel  E.,  M.D.     .  1895-98 

Meade,  Peter     ......  1862-63 

Meakim,  Alexander     ....  1850-52 

Meeks,  Joseph  W  .....  1851-53 

Meirowitz,  Philip,  M.D.  .     .     .  1895-96 

Merrill,  Benjamin  B  .....  1867-69 

Metzgar,  Christian  .....  1859-62 

Miller,  David     ......  1861-62 

Miller,  Jacob      ......  1843-44 

Miller,  James  L  ......  1862-67 

Miller,  Jedediah      .....  1854-56 

Miller,  Nehemiah    .....  1849-51 

Montant,  Auguste  P.       ...  1895-97 

Monteith,  William      .     .     . 


Montgomery,  Samuel  J. 
Moore,  James 
Morand,  Augustus       . 


1863-64 
1862-63 
1853-55 


Moriarty,  Thaddeus 


(  1879-81 
*  '1 1889-95 

Morrill,  Elisha 1851-53 

Morris,  Orin  W. 1851-52 

Mosher,  Joseph  F.      ....     1890-91 

Moss,  William  P 1846-47 

Mullen,  John 1843-44 

Murphy,  Felix 1863-64 

Murphy,  Thomas 1869-70 

Murphy,  William  D 1848-53 

Murray,  Washington  ....     1864-66 


Neilson,  William  H.  . 


Nehrbas,  Charles  J.    ....     1880 

f  1853-58 
J  1864-65 
'     1867-69 
I  1873-76 

Nelson,  George  P 1855 

Newhouse,  John 1844-46 

Nicoll, 


Niven,  George '857-58 

Nott,  JoelB 1853 

Oakley,  Jacob  F 1854 

O'Brien,  Miles  M 1886-95 

O'Connor,  William  J.       ...  1863-64 

O'Donnell,  Arthur      ....  1864-65 

O'Donnell,  William    ....  1850-53 

O'Grady,  John 1858-59 

O'Keefe,  John 1858-61 

O'Leary,  John  D 1854 

Ostrander,  Gideon      ....  1842-43 

Palmer,  Francis  A.      ....  1870-71 

Parker,  Shivers 1842-43 

Patten,  John 1863-64 

Patterson,  Edward      ....  1882-84 

Patterson,  Samuel  P.       .    .    .{'f7"69 

I i 873-75 

Pattison,  Robert 1846-48 

Paulding,  George 1846-48 

Peaslee,  Edward  H.,  M.D.  .    .  1 1^9~91 


424 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Pellew,  Henry  E  

ivOJ 

I  880-8  i 

Schell,  Edward       .     . 

10^~iJ 

l87C    77 

Pentz,  Adam  P  

I  SAC—  47 

Schiff,  Jacob  H 

l882    84 

Perine,  Benjamin,  Jr. 

1844-46 

.       .       .       1884-89 

Perkins,  Hosea  B  

1884-86 

Schwab,  Gustav      .     . 

.     .     .     1884  86 

Perley,  Charles,  Jr  
Perry,  Andrew  J  

1864-65 
i8cc-c6 

Scofield,  Jonathan  L. 
Scribner,  Abraham  S 

.     .     .     1857-58 

l8C4—  C  C 

Peters,  De  Witt  C  

1860 

Seaman,  John  M.  . 

10j*r    33 
1846—  CO 

i8c.4 

i8cA—  c6 

Sedgwick,  Theodore  . 

l84C    4.8 

Pierson,  Charles  E  

l8C3—  CA 

See,  William  S       .     . 

i8c4  c6 

Pinkney,  William  T  

1847-53 
1876-81 

Seligman,  De  Witt  J. 

.     .     .     1884-89 

Pomeroy,  Eugene  II.       ... 
Post,  James  M   .     .    .    . 

1883-85 
1866-68 

Shannon,  Robert  H.  . 
Shaver,  Charles  G. 

.    .     .     1855-56 
1863 

Powell,  Mrs.  Sarah  H.    .     .     . 

1880-01 

Prentiss,  Nathaniel  A.     ... 

1  8Qc-q8 

Purdy,  Samuel  M  

1887-92 

f  i8c7-c8 

Purser,  George  H  

1849-52 

Shortell,  William   .     . 

'  1  1860-61 

l8A7—  AC 

Simmons   T   Edward 

1882  90 

Quackenboss,  James,  M.D. 

I84C-47 

Sinclair,  William    . 

i8cc  c8 

Ranney,  Lafayette      .... 

i8c,6-co 

Ransom,  Jonathan  H.     .     .     . 

i8c.i-c4 

Slote,  Daniel     .     .     . 

181:6-63 

Redfield,J.  S  

1848-^ 

Small,  Wilson    .     .     . 

1864-60 

Reynolds,  Alonzo  G  

i8c.9-6o 

Smith,  Albert    .     .     . 

i8c6-C7 

Rhoads,  Benjamin  T.      ... 

i  860-6  i 

Rice,  Henry  . 

1898 

Smith  Bartlett  .     .     . 

l843   AC 

Rich,  Josiah  

184.2—46 

Smith,  Charles  H 

l8C2    C  C 

Robinson,  Edward,  Jr.    ... 

1862-63 

Smith,  Isaac  W.     .     . 

.     .     .     105^5  55 
i8c6-C7 

Roche,  Walter  

i8c6-c.7 

Smith,  Orlando  P.  .     . 

.    .         1861  64 

Rockwell,  William      .... 
Rogers,  Henry  A  

1854 
1803-08 

Smith,  Thomas  E. 
Smith,  William 

.    .    .     1850-53 

l8A2    A  1 

Rollins,  Aaron  B  

i8c7  c8 

f  TRfio    62 

Roosevelt,  S.  Weir      .... 
Rowland,  William  Z  

1864-67 
1854-55 

1  1869-73 
1863-64 

Rumsey,  John  W  

l8C  2-C3 

Spencer,  Mark 

1  8  A  3    AC 

Russ,  John  D.,  M.D  

i  848-^2 

Speyer   Tames 

180*7 

Russell,  Israel    

i8c3—  C4 

TQQ£    Qn 

Rutherford,  James  C.      ... 

^54-55 

Stafford,  William  R.   . 
Steers,  Edward  P.  .     . 

.       .       .       1859-60 

1  804—  o  c 

Sands,  Nathaniel    

1869-73 

Stevens,  Linus  \V 

i8c3  CA 

Sanger,  Adolph  L  

1889-94 

Stewart,  Thomas  E.    . 

•     •     .     1854 

Appendix  VI 


425 


St  John,  Samuel  S.     .     .     . 

1847-40 

Vanderpool,  Jacob      .... 
Van  Vorst,  Hooper  C.     .     .     . 

1877 
1871-72 
1842-43 
\  1873-81 
L  1883-90 
1851-53 

1861-62 
1876-86 
1854 
1883-85 
1845-47 
1846-50 
1856-57 
f  1858-61 
L  1866-69 
[1852-54 
1856-57 
1859-62 
1876-80 
1859-60 
1855-56 
1887-89 
1842-43 
1892-96 
1843-47 
1851-52 
1863-64 
1882-88 
1851-53 
'  1854-55 
1864-66 
1868-69 
.1873-83 

r  1842-43 

L  1846-47 
1873-86 

1854 
1844-46 
1877-79 
1856-59 

1850-51 

1854 

1877-81 

Stillman,  Thomas  B.    .     .     . 

i8«;  3-S4 

Stone,  Hubbard  G.      .     .     . 

f  1860-61 

Vermilye,  Jacob  D.     .     •     .     .  • 

Stone  William  L             .     . 

'  \  1880-82 
1842—41; 

Vulte,  Frederick  L  

Stout  Andrew  V    ... 

f  1852-53 

Wade,  Patrick  

Strauss  Charles      .... 

•11860-63 
1801-06 

Strong  George  ^V           .     . 

1842—43 

Walker,  Stephen  A  
Wallace,  Thomas    .          . 

Stuart   Charles             . 

ige? 

Sweeney,  Hugh,  M.D.     .     . 
Taft,  Henry  W.  

.     1842-54 
1806-0,8 

Wallace,  William  B  
W7alsh,  James     

Walters,  William  A.,  M.D.  .    . 
Ware,  John  J  

Tamsen,  Edward  J.  H.    .     . 
Tappen,  Charles  S.      .     .    . 

(  1883-88 
'11890-91 

•     1855-56 
1  840-1;  3 

Waterbury,  Nelson  J  - 

Watson,  Benjamin  F  
\Vatson,  James       

Thompson,  Robert,  Jr.     .     . 
Tiemann,  Daniel  F.     .     .     . 

.     1847-51 
1842—43 

Timpson  Jared  A  .     . 

.     1858-61 

Todd   William  W 

1842-43 

Tooker,  Theodore  .... 

.     1868 

Webb,  David     

Webb,  H.  Walter  

Townsend,  Isaac     .... 

I  84  7-4  C 

Weed,  Nathaniel    

Townsend,  Randolph  W.     . 

Townsend,  Solomon   .     .     . 
Townsend,  Walter  W.      .     . 
Tracy,  Charles    

f  ^54-55 

'11*73-75 

.    1847-48 

.    1854 
181:4 

W^ehrum,  Charles  C  

\Veir  George          . 

Weismann,  Augustus  .... 

Welch,  William  J  
Wells,  Ovid  P  

Trapp  John  H 

1862  63 

Traud,  Ferdinand  .... 
Tucker  William 

f  1873-83 
'(.1885-90 
181:0-62 

West,  Henry  P  

Westervelt,  Jacob  A  < 
Wetmore,  David     

Turner  John  F  

I  86^-67 

Tuthill,  James  M  

1  81;  6-61; 

Tweed  William  M.     .     .     . 

I8S7-S8 

Underhill   Adna  H           .     . 

.     1862-63 

Wheeler,  Clark  B  

Underbill,  James  W.  .     .     . 
Underwood,  John  A.  ... 

Van  Arsdale,  William  J.  .     . 
Van  Buskirk,  William  J.  .     . 
Vance,  Samuel  B.  H.  .     .     . 

•     1855-56 
.     1843-44 

.     1892-97 
.     1843-44 
.     1861-68 

Wheeler,  David  E  
Wheeler,  Everett  P  

White,  George    
White,  John  H  

Whitmore,  John  H  

Wickham,  William  H.     .     .     . 

426 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Wilhelm,  William  S.    .  . 

Wilkins,  Morris      .     .  . 

Willet,  James  C.     .     .  . 

Williams,  Abraham  V.  . 
Williams,  Mrs.  Clara  M. 

Williams,  Richard  S.  .  . 

Williamson,  Amor  J.  .  . 

Wilson,  Abraham  D.  .  . 


1862-63 

1875-77 

1851-53 

1852-59 

1890-92 

1842-43 

1853 

1854-55 


Winslow,  Robert  F 1845-47 

Winthrop,  Benjamin  R.  .  .  .  1853-56 

f  1869-73 
Wood,  William \  1875-79 

1 1881-88 

Woods,  James 1862-63 

Wright,  Charles  S 1852-53 


MEMBERS  OF  THE   BROOKLYN  BOARD  OF  EDUCATION 


1843-1898 


Aechternacht,  H.  A.  .     . 

.     .     1877-80 

"w/   /j 
J  1844-47 

Alexander,  George  R.     . 
Ammerman,  Albert     .     . 

.     .     1879-82 
1870-78 

'  1  1851-61 

Bergen  Peter  G.    .     . 

.     .     .     1843-66 

Anthony,  Edward  .    .    . 

J              T"          *T 

I  1851-61 

f  1875-77 

Arnold,  S.  G  
Aubery,  Albert  C.   .     .     . 

.     .     1849-55 
.     .     1888-94 

.     .    .     1880-87 

.     .     1880-83 

Betts  Charles  C.     . 

1  84.  c  c  i 

Black,  Robert  A.    .     . 

1800—  07 

Babbott,  Frank  L.      .     . 

l8q<5-Q8 

Booth,  Samuel  .     . 

igcc   6j 

Backhouse,  Edward  T.     . 

.     .     1849-151 

1887-07 

Badeau,  I  

1864.  67 

Brainard  R  C 

i8c8  fii 

Bamberger,  Ira  Leo    .     . 
Barnes,  Demas  .     .         . 

•     •     1895-98 
l8?O—  72 

Brevoort,  J.  Carson     . 

.     .     .     1848-55 

Brill,  Max      .... 

j  i"*5  °7 

Barthman,  William     .     . 
Bates,  J.  A  

.      .       1887-91 
.      .       1848-51 

Brinkerhoff,  Isaac  .     . 

'  1  1894-96 
1844.  68 

f  1848-^2 

.    .    .     1880  88 

Baylis,  Abraham  B.     .    . 

1 

.      J   1855-67 

I  1869-76 

Beard,  William  .... 

I  840    £  I 

Beard,  William  H.      .     . 

.      .       1880-83 

Bull,  Thomas,  Jr.    .     . 

Bell,  A.  N  

1876-77 

Burbank  William 

Bellingham,  John  .     .     . 

l8i;2-7O 

Burger,  Joseph  .     .     . 

.      .      .      1044  4!) 
1872-82 

Bendernagel,  James  F.     . 
Bennett,  Cornelius      .     . 

.      .       l897-98 
.      .       1851-52 
I87O-78 

Burke,  F.  J  
Burnham,  H.  G.     .     . 
Burr  Jonathan  S 

.      .      .      1875-81 
.      .      .      1855-70 
18155   80 

Bergen,  Cornelius  . 

184.7-4.6 

f  1882  91 

Buttrick  Charles  A. 

Bergen,  De  Hart    .     .     . 

igcc—  7C 

1   I8Q7    Q7 

Bergen,  Garrett  G. 

±<JJJ    /J 

1  847-  <a 

*•  10yj  if/ 
188^-88 

Appendix   VI 


427 


Cadley,  Edward  B.      .     . 

'11896-98 
,     .     1867-76 

Davids,  Charles  H.      .     .     . 

.     1888-90 

Caldwell,  Wallace  E.  .     . 

-     •     1855-57 
.     .     1870-81 

Davis,  William  M.       ... 
Dayton,  John  A.     .... 

.     1889-95 
I  846—40 

C-11       A       T> 

/  l8S4-55 

De  Nyse,  William  .... 

.     1880-83 

1  18157-70 

Dever,  C.       

.     1861  64 

.    .     1861-80 

De  Witt,  Moses  E.      .    .    . 

i  846—40 

Carter,  O.  G  

.    .     1870-72 

Dickey,  Erskine  H.     .     .     . 

.     1886-92 

Gary,  E  

1864-70 

Dillingham,  William  S 

184^  c8 

Cashman,  John  J.    . 

l80I—04. 

Doane,  Charles  R 

1880—84 

Chadwick,  Charles  N. 

.    .     1896-98 

Chapman,  Miss  Isabel  M. 
Church,  E.  Dwight      .     . 

.    .     1895-98 
.    .     1881-86 
.    .     1882-85 

Dresser,  Horace  E.     .    .    . 
Dreyer  John               . 

f  1882-91 
'(.1894-98 

l86*7    72 

Clark,  George  P.     ... 

1807-08 

1888-96 

.    .     1884  86 

I  840—62 

Duryea,  H.  B.    .    .     .    .    . 

.       1850-55 

Dutcher,  Silas  B  

1871;  80 

Cocheau,  Theodore     .    . 
Cocks,  John  D.       ... 

.    .     1873-76 

Eames,  Theodore    .... 

1847—46 

Cole,  William  M.    .     .     . 

.    .     1872-81 

Colgan,  John  J.,  M.D. 

1891-98 

Everdell,  William  .... 

.     1866-67 

Collier  Edward  L.      .     . 

1806-0.8 

Evert  z,  Carl  A  

180.6-08 

Condon   John         ... 

.      .       1884-86 

Conkling,  J  T  

.      .       1864-70 

1898 

f  1847-49 

Ferguson,  William  P.  ... 

.   1888-91 

"    '\i8si-s8 

Ferris  ^Villiam  ..... 

1800—04 

Cortelyou  Adrian  V 

I  844    1  1 

Fey  John  ....... 

1886-89 

Cothren,  Nathaniel      . 

.       .       1884-86 

i8c;q-6i: 

.      .       1886-91 

Field,  Thomas  W  

Crandall   Eben  V.        .     . 

.       .       1884-86 

Crane  William  W.      .     . 

i8cc-6i 

Fischer,  Ernest  W.      .     .     . 

1871:  87 

.    .     1888-91 

f  l87I    77 

J   i"/1    /J 

184^-46 

'  I  l8Q4-q8 

i8cc-6i 

Fiske,  E.  W  

.       1861-64 

Cullen  Edgar  M.    .     .     . 

1871—77 

Fitzgibbon,  J.  J.      .... 

l872—  71 

(  1872-81 

Flaherty,  John  W  

I87I-77 

Culyer,  John  Y.       ... 

1  1886-98 

I876-Q2 

Cunningham,  John      .    . 

.    .     1872-82 

Forman,  Alexander     .     .     . 

.      1872-79 
l8q6-q8 

Dallon.  Francis  L. 

1881-84 

Frisbie,  Oscar    , 

1876-78 

428 


The  New  York  P  lib  lie  School 


Frothingham,  J.  H  .....  1864-70 

Furey,  William  A  ......  1  873-75 

Gardiner,  David     .....  1843-50 

Gardner,  Robert  B  .....  1880-87 

'  OS 

Getting,  Adolph  H  .....  1887-89 

Gill,  William  L  ......  1867-72 

Glasser,  Henry  ......  1879-82 

Goodrich,  W.  W.    .....  1867-70 

Goodstein,  Samuel  .....  1886-95 

Graham,  S  ........  1861-64 

Graves,  Horace  ......  1883-89 

Greenwood,  John.    .    .    .     . 


Griffin,  John,  M.D 


Griffiths,  Edgar  E 1883-87 

Guilfoyle,  John 1886-93 

Hall,  James 1856-80 

Hallam,  A.  C 1881-82 

Halsey,  Harlan  P. 1885-94 

Halsey,  John 1847-57 

Hamlin,  George  D.,  M.D.    .     .  1894-98 

Hardenbergh,  L.V.D.      ...  1869-80 

Harkness,  William      ....  1879-93 

Harrigan,  John,  M.D.      ...  1883-98 

Harris,  William  M 1851-61 

Hart,  Daniel 1864-72 

Hart,  James  H 1870-73 

Hart,  Levi 1843-48 

Harteau,  Henry -T  „ 

1 1854-59 

Hatfield,  A.  F 1861-64 

Haviland,  Abijah    ......  1882-84 

Hawxhurst,  L.  B.    ...     .     .  1851-52 

Haynes,  Stephen    .     .     .     .     .  1843-57 

Hazlett,  James 1851-54 

Healy,  A.  Augustus    ....  1891-93 

Henderson,  Robert,  Jr.   .     .     .  1881-84 

Hendrix,  Joseph  C 1882-93 

Hennessy,  John  F 1870-73 


Henry,  J.  W  

.    .     1850-51 

Hentscher,  Robert      .     . 

.     .     1884-86 

Hibson,  James  .... 

.    .     1858-61 

Higgins,  Algernon  S. 

.    .     1892-98 

Hinrichs,  Frederick  W.  . 

.     .     1881-84 

Hoile,  James  T.      .     .     . 

.    .     1879-82 

Hollis,  W.  H.    .     .     .     . 

.     .     1864  67 

Hooper,  Franklin  W. 

.    .     1891-98 

Hope,  John  

.     .     1877-83 

Houghton,  Thomas  F.     . 

.    .     1881-86 

How,  James  

.    .     1851-64 

Howard,  Joseph     .     .     . 

.    .     1847-51 

.    .     1843-44 

Hubbs,  Courtes  T.      .     . 

.    .     1891-95 

Hull,  A.  Cooke      .     .     . 

.     .     1867  69 

Hull,  Charles  A.     .    .    . 

.     .     1882  84 

r  1843-44 

Hunter,  John  W.    .     .     . 

.    J  1846-73 

1  1876-77 

Huntley,  R.  H  

.    .     1875-80 

Hurlbut,  George     .    ,     . 

.    .     1845-46 

Hurlbut,  William  W.       . 

.    .     1864-77 

Husted,  Seymour  L.   .     . 

.    .     1846-48 

Hynes,  T.  W  

.    .    1878-81 

Jacobs,  Mrs.  Mary  E. 

.    .     1895-98 

Jarrett,  Arthur  R.  .     .     . 

.     .     1888-94 

Jewell,  Ditmas  .... 

.     .     1896-98 

Johnson,  Barnet     .     .     . 

.    .     1843-51 

Johnson,  Jeremiah      .     . 

.    .     1857-64 

Johnson,  Teunis     .     .     . 

.    .     1843-44 

Jurgens,  J.  R  

.    .     1861-73 

Kelley,  John  C.      .     .     . 

.    .     1884  87 

Kelsey,  Charles      .     .    . 

.    .     1859-64 

Kelsey,  G.  W  

.    .     1855-56 

Kerr,  Anthony  .... 

.    .     1843-50 

•    •     1895-98 

Kimball,  John  W.  .     .     . 

.    .     1892-95 

,     ,     1884-94 

.    .     1868-75 

.    .     1895-97 

Lamar,  G.  B  

.    .     1849-51 

Appendix   VI 


429 


Lane,  F.  A  

*  1  1858-68 
1857-61 

Millard,  A.  Orville  .     .     . 
Miller,  Eben       .... 

.     .     1843-44 
1880-05 

Lavelle  Hugh  P.        ... 

1887-00 

Moore,  E.  B       .... 

i  870—7  i 

1855-59 

Moran,  Thomas  F. 

1802—  05 

Libby,  William  P  

1872-76 

Morgan,  G.  D  

1851—57 

Liebmann,  Joseph  .... 

.    1882-85 

Moriarty,  John  M.  . 

1841-48 

.    1886-89 

Morris,  Frederick  R.  . 

1854-56 

Lloyd,  T.  . 

.    1861-64 

1846-51 

.    1864-66 

Moulton,  George  E.    . 

188^-87 

.    1881-84 

Murdock,  James  J.      .     . 

1848-57 

Low,  Seth     

1846-47 

Murphy  James  .              . 

1  CMJ.U—  ^  / 
l86l-82 

Lowell,  S.  V  

1875-81 

!  880-04. 

Lynch  William  J  .          .     . 

1800-08 

Murtha  William  H 

1870—72 

.    1884-86 

Nash,  William  A.   ... 

1883-84 

Mackellar,  R.  F  

.    1877-80 

T00x,     0- 

Macomber,  Edward    .     .     . 

.    1843-45 
.    1847-51 

Northup,  Daniel  L.     .     . 

.      .      1857-71 

Marcellus,  J.  L  

Martin,  Andrew  B.      ... 

.    1873-80 
1871—75 

Nostrand,  George  E.  .    . 

.      .      1887-93 
.      .      l894-98 

Martin,  T.  Henry    .... 

1880-86 

Martin,  William      .... 

1870—75 

O'Brien,  T.,  Jr  

.      .      1873-76 

CFKeeffe,  M  

.      .      1877-80 

Marvin,  Tasker  H.      .     .     . 

.    1843-49 
.    1881-82 
1864  81 

Parsons,  George  W.    .    . 

1856-67 

jCQ.1     O- 

Paulding,  John  .... 

l857-6l 

Maxwell  Henry  W 

1  8O/1    Q8 

Payne,  Robert    .... 

.      .      1881-87 

McCabe  D 

I86I-64 

Peer,  William  H.    .     .     . 

1855-57 

McCloskey  H 

1861  67 

.      .      1857-64 

McDermott,  W  

.     1861-67 

Perry,  Miss  Elizabeth  H. 

.      .      1895-98 

f  1867-72 

Perry,  Timothy  .... 

f  1864-70 

McGrath,  Thomas  H.      .    . 
McGuire,  J.  C  

1  1874-75 
•    1874-75 
.     1875-76 

Pettigrew,  William  R.     . 
Pettingill,  Mrs.  Emma  F. 

*  I  1881-83 
.      .      1879-82 
.      .      1895-98 

1884  86 

Phelps,  J.  M  

I85V-73 

McKinney  M     .     .     .     .     • 

.     1861-64 

Pierrepont,  Henry  E. 

.      .      1844-45 

McLean,  Henry  C.,  M.D.     . 

.     1886-98 

f  1855-57 

McMahon   Tames             .     . 

.     1881-83 

*  11861-69 

McNamee   John 

1870-08 

Piper,  Elwin  S  

1896-98 

McNulty,  Peter  H.      ... 
Mead  George  W 

.     1887-95 
1881-84 

Polhemus,  Theodorus 
Policy  Grahams      ... 

.    .     1843-56 
1855-61 

Mead,  P.  B  

1852-54 

Pool,  George  W.     .     .     . 

.    .     1884-86 

Meehan.  P.  T. 

i  861-64 

Poole.  William  . 

1853-50 

430 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Powell,  John  K.,  D.D.S.      . 

Powell,  Mrs.  Julia  M.      .     . 
Prosser,  Thomas     .... 

f  1887-96 
'  1  1898 
.     1895-98 
.     1874  80 

Smith,  William  C.       ... 
Sneider,  Robert      .     .     .     . 

.     1843-49 

Somers,  Arthur  S  

Spader,  John  L 

fXfifi-fiT 

Provost,  A.  J  

.     1864-67 

Sparks,  Jared 

i8c»7  fii 

Raymond,  Joseph  H.,  M.D. 
Rhodes,  John  H  

.     1893-96 
.     1867-76 

Sparrow,  J.  R  
Spear,  Calvin  F  

.     1875-81 

Sperry,  C.  S 

Rice,  Tohn     , 

I8CI-C2 

Sprague,  Cornelius  J.       .     . 
Sprague,  William  E.   .     .     . 

Stanton,  Amos  P  

.     1859-68 
.     1870-81 
f  1843-44 

Richards,  James  B.     .     .     . 

1867    70 

Richardson,  Asa  B.     .     .    . 

.     1872  81 

Riaac    T    W 

Riggs,  M.  C  

.     1570-73 

Stearns  John  N 

1  1846-47 

Robertson,  Charles  E.      .    . 
Robinson,  James  L.    .     .     . 

Rodman,  Thomas  H.       .    . 

Rosman,  J.  G.,  M.D.  .     .     . 
Rowe,  Edward  

.  1893-98 
.   1882-83 
r  1851-54 
'  \  1856-65 
.  1873-76 

.     1865  97 

Stevens,  Alfred  G.       .     .    . 

(  1843-51 
'1  1853-54 

Stewart,  T.  McCants  .     .     . 
Straub,  George       .... 

.     1890-94 
1880-0.6 

Rushman,  W.  C  

Sanger,  William  Gary      .    . 
Schaedle,  George  W.       .     . 
Schapps,  Cornelius  H.     .     . 
Scharmann,  H.  B.        ... 
Schimmel  Anton 

.     1867-70 

.     1881-84 
.     1894-98 

.     1864-77 
.     1876-86 
1891   94 

l867    7O 

Suydam,  Moses       .     .     . 

1847  48 

Swanstrom,  J.  Edward     .    . 
Sweeny,  James  . 

.      1888-98 
I887-QI 

Taylor,  Fitch     

Taylor,  Peter  G  

igc4-c8 

Schmidt,  Henry  P.      ... 
Schultz,  J.  S  

.      1894-98 

jR/tA—Afl 

Teale,  Charles  E  

1877-06 

Theall,  E  

1876-70 

Schwarzwaelder,  "W 

1874  81 

.     1882  88 

Scott,  Rufus  L  

.     1886-89 

Thomas,  William  M.  .     .     . 
Thompson,  John  R.    .     .     . 

.     1867-80 
.     1886-98 

Scottron,  Samuel  R.    .     .     . 

1804-08 

Scranton,  K.  E  
Seabury,  James  M.      .     .     . 

Shanahan,  James  M.  .     .     . 
Shapter,  John  S 

.     i  880-8  i 
(  1846-56 
't  1859-70 
.     1879-82 
1840—  c  i 

Thorne,  John  Sullivan,  M.D. 
Thome,  Richard  A.    ... 

.     1843-71 
i  848—40 

Thursby,  Robert  G.     .     .     . 

l8cc    rg 

Tompkins,  George  V.  ... 
Tonjes,  C.  F  

.      1884-86 
.      1878-81 

Shepard,  A.  W.,  M.D.     .    . 
Simis,  C  

.     1871-80 

r  1886-89 

184.0—  cc 

Turner,  Peter     

1847  46 

Simmons,  Parker  P.    ... 

1  1891-94 
.    1886-91 

Jnderhill,  James  E.     .     .     . 
Van  Sinderen,  Adrian      .     . 
Walsh,  John  D.  . 

•    l855-59 
.    1844-47 
.    1864-67 
1802-0.1; 

Simonson,  Jacob  A.  S.     .     . 
Smith,  Alfred  S  

.     i  88  1-86 
i  840  c  i 

Smith,  Cyrus  P  

1  84  "?    71 

Smith,  George  W.       .     .     . 

•       1873-75 

Appendix   VI 


Weber  John  W           ... 

.     1888-96 

Wilson,  Christopher  W.  . 
Winant,  D.  D  
Winter,  Henry  M.  .  . 
Woodworth,  George  H.  . 
Wreaks,  Charles  F.  .  . 
Wright,  James  .... 

.     .     1883-86 
.     .     1861-71 
.     .     1886-92 
.     .     1894-98 
.    .     1881-86 
1807-08 

"Weir  James  Jr            ... 

.     1886-98 

\Vheeden,  Thomas  J.  .     .     . 
Wheeler,  Hayden  W.      .    . 
White  Philip  A                .     . 

.     1877-82 
f  1876-79 
'\  1881-84 
.     1882-90 

White,  T.  J  
Whiting,  R.  M  
Whitlock,  Ephraim  J.      .     . 
Whitmore,  Stephen     .     .     . 
Wiggins,  J.  W.,  Jr.      .     .     . 
Willets,  C.  W  

.     1880-81 
.     1856-67 
.     1858-81 
.     1844-45 
.     1886-90 
.     1868-69 

Wyckoff,  Peter  .... 

f  1843-44 

Young,  Richard  .  .  . 

11846-51 
18015-08 

Zabriskie,  T  L  .  . 

iSod.—  QC 

Williams,  John  

.     1869-81 

Zumbrod,  F  W  .  . 

i8co-6i 

MEMBERS    OF    THE 
Adams,  Richard  H.      .     .     . 

BOARD    C 
NEW 

1898 

1898-1904 
1898-1899 
1904 
1898-1899 
1902-1904 
1903-1904 
1898-1899 
1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1902-1903 
1899-1900 
f  1898-1899 
1  1902-1903 
1900-1902 
1900-1902 
1898-1899 
1902-1904 
1902-1903 
1902-1904 
1899-1902 
1902-1904 
1902-1904 
1898-1902 
1  004 

)F    EDUCATION    OF 
YORK 

-1904 

Eustis,  John  E  

GREATER 

1808-1800 

Everett,  A.  Leo  .  .  . 
Fagan,  John  J.  P.  .  .  . 
Farrell,  Edward  F.  .  . 
Field,  Frank  Harvey  .  . 
Francolini,  Joseph  Nicola 
Frissell,  Algernon  S.  .  . 
Greene,  John  . 

.    1902-1904 
.    1904 
.    1899-1902 
.    1902-1904 
.    1902-1904 
.    1902-1904 

IQOO—  IQOd 

Aldcroftt,  Richard  B.,  Jr. 
Anderson,  E.  Ellery     .     .     . 
Babbott,  Frank  L  
Backus,  Grosvernor  H.     .     . 
Banuard  Otto  T 

Barrett,  Nicholas  J.      .     .     . 

Greenough,  William  .  . 
Griffin,  John,  M.D.  .  . 
Guy  Charles  L 

.       1898-1899 
.       1899-1900 
I  OO2—  I  QO  1 

Brunner,  Arnold  W.     .     .     . 
Burke,  John  T  

Burlingham,  Charles  C.    .     . 
Cashman,  John  J  

Hamlin,  George  D.,  M.D. 
Harkness,  William  .     .     . 
Harrison,  Robert  L.    .     . 
Haupt,  Louis,  M.D.     .     . 
Higgins,  Thomas  J.     .     . 
Higginson,  Thomas  J. 
Hubbell,  Charles  Bulkley 
Ingalls,  Charles  H.       .     . 
Jackson,  Frederic  W.  .     . 
Jay,  Pierre      . 

.       1902-1904 
.       1902-1904 
.       1902-1904 
.       I9O2-I9O4 
.       1904 
.       1903-1904 
.       I898 
.       1902-1904 
.       I9O2-I9O4 
IQO2—  IQO3 

Cole,  William  J  
Collier,  Edward  L.       .     .     . 
Collier,  M.  Dwight       .     .     . 
Connery,  Thomas  B.    .     .     . 
Cunnion,  Francis  P.     .     .     . 
Davis,  Vernon  M  

Dix,  Samuel  M.  .     .          .     . 

Donnelly,  Samuel  B.   .     .     . 
Dresser,  Horace  E.      .     .     . 
Eppig,  Theodore 

Kelley,  John  C  

Kelly,  Hugh  . 

1808 

432 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Kelly,  John  P.  .  .  . 

.     .     1902-1904 

Robertson,  Charles  E.  .  . 

1800—1002 

Kennedy,  Michael  J.  . 
Kiendl  Adolph  •  •  « 

.     .     1902-1903 

IQO2—  IQO4. 

Rodenstein,  Louis  A.,  M.D. 

1902-1904 
f  1808—1800 

Kittel,  Joseph  J.  .  . 
Leavitt,  G.  Rowland  . 
Little,  Joseph  J.  .  . 
Livingston,  George  . 

.      .       1899-1902 
.      .       1898-1899 
.      .      1899-1900 
.      .       1899-1900 

Rogers,  Henry  A  

Rossiter,  Edward  V.  W.  .  . 
Schaedle,  George  W.  .  .  . 

j    ioyo—  ioyy 
\  1902-1904 
1902-1903 
1902-1904 
IQO4 

Mack,  Jacob  W.  .  . 
Man,  Alrick  H.  .  .  . 

f  I898-I  899 
'   I  1902-1904 
IQO2—  IQOA 

Simonson,  F.  De  Hass  .  . 
Somers,  Arthur  S  
Stern,  Abraham  .  . 

1899-1900 
1900-1902 
IQOO—  IQOA 

Marks,  Frederick  W.  . 
Maxwell,  Henry  W.  . 
McDonald,  Albert  G.  . 
McGowan,  Patrick  F.  . 

.      .       1903-1904 
.      .       1898-1900 
.      .       1902-1903 
IOOA 

Stern,  M.  Samuel  .  .  .  . 
Sterne,  Morris  E  
Swanstrom,  J.  Edward  .  . 
Taft,  Henry  W  .  .  . 

1904 
1899-1902 
1898-1900 
1898-1899 

McNamee,  John  .  . 
Metz  Herman  A 

.      .       1898-1899 
I9OI—I9O2 

Thompson,  John  R.  .  .  . 
Thomson  Theodore  E 

1898-1902 
I  QO2    I  QO4. 

Moriarty,  Thaddeus 

l80Q—  IQO2 

Tifft,  Henry  N.  .  .  .  , 

IQO'?—  IQO4. 

Morris,  Alfred  Hennen 
O'Brien,  Edward  D.  . 
O'Brien,  Miles  M.  .  . 
O'Keeffe,  John  G.  .  . 
Partridge,  Frank  H.  . 

.      .       1900-1902 
.      .       1903-1904 
.      .       1899-1902 
.      .       1900-1902 
IQO7—  IQOA 

Vandenhoff,  George  A.  .  . 
Van  Hoesen,  George  M.  .  . 
Van  Ingen,  Edward  .  .  . 
Warburg,  Felix  M.  .  .  .  . 
'Weir,  James,  Jr 

1902-1904 
1899-1900 
1902 
1902-1904 
I  QO2    I  QOA 

Payne  George  E  . 

IQO2—  IQO4. 

White  Patrick  J 

I9OO—IQO2 

.      .       1898-1899 

Wilsey,  Frank  D  

IQO2—  IQO4. 

Prentiss,  Nathaniel  A. 
Renwick,  James  A. 
Richardson,  Waldo  H., 

.      .       1898 
.      .       1903-1904 

M.D.     1899-1902 

Wingate,  George  W.  .  .  . 
Winthrop,  Egerton  L.,  Jr.  . 

1902-1904 
1904 

MEMBERS    OF    THE    SCHOOL    BOARD    FOR    THE    BOROUGHS 
OF  MANHATTAN   AND   THE   BRONX 


1898-1902 


Adams,  Richard  H.     „     .     .  1898-1902 

Agar,  John  G 1898-1899 

Anderson,  E.  Ellery     .     .     .  1898 

Andrews,  Walter  E.     .     .     .  1898 

Bannard,  Otto  T 1898-1899 

Barry,  John  J 1901-1902 

Burlingham,  Charles  C.    .     .  1898-1901 

Davis,  Vernon  M.    „     .     .     .  1899-1902 

Emmet,  William  Temple  .     .  1900-1901 

Eustis,  John  E.   .     .     .     .     .  1898-1899 

Farrell,  Edward  F 1899-1902 


Greenough,  William    . 

Groehl,  Henry  M.,  M.D. 

Harrison,  John  B.   .     . 

Hubbell,  Charles  Bulkley 

Hurlbut,  William  H.   . 

Kelly,  Hugh  .... 

Ketchum,  Alexander  P. 

Kittel,  Joseph  J.      .     . 

Lee,  James  P.      .     „     .     .     .     1898-1900 

Linck,  John  M 1899-1902 

Little,  Joseph  J 1898-1900 


1898-1899 

1901-1902 

1899-1902 

1898 

1898 

1898 

1898 

1899-1902 


Appendix  VI 


433 


Livingston,  George 
Mack,  Jacob  \V. 
Maclay,  Robert 
McGowan,  Patri 
McSweeny,  Dan 
Meehan,  John  T, 
Moriarty,  Thaddeus 
Morris,  Alfred  H< 
Muth,  George  H., 
O'Brien,  Miles  M 
O'Keeffe,  John  G 


rge      ... 

1899-1901 
1808 

Prentiss,  Nathaniel  A.      .    . 
Rice,  Henry  

1898 
1808-180,0 

1898 

Richardson,  Waldo  H.,  M.D. 

1809-1002 

ck  F.  .     .     . 

IQOO 

1808-1002 

iel  E  ,  M.D. 

1898 

l8QQ—IQO2 

1901-1902 

Sterne,  Morris  E  

1899-1902 

leus          .    . 

iSoQ—  ICKD2 

Taft,  Henry  W  

1898—1900 

lennen    .    , 
[.,  D.D.S.     . 
1  

I900-I902 
I9OO-I9O2 
1800—  IQO2 

Timpson,  Thomas  W.  .     .     . 
Van  Hoesen,  George  M.  .    . 
Whitaker,  E.  G  

1900 
1899-1900 

iqOO—  IQO2 

•~\ 

IQOO-IQ02 

MEMBERS  OF  THE  SCHOOL  BOARD  FOR  THE  BOROUGH 
OF  BROOKLYN 


1898-1902 


Babbott,  Frank  L.  .    .    „    . 

1898-1902 

Bamberger,  Ira  Leo     .     »     . 

1898-1902 

Bassett,  Edward  M.     .     .     . 

1899-1902 

Bendernagel,  James  F.     .     . 

1898-1902 

Blandy,  Graham  F.      .     .     . 

1899-1901 

1901-1902 

Cacciola,  Thomas    .... 

1898-1902 

1898-1902 

Chadwick,  Charles  N.       .     . 

1898-1899 

Chapman,  Miss  Isabel  M.      . 

1898 

Clark,  George  Pe     .... 

1898-1902 

Colgan,  John  J.,  M.D.       .    . 

1898-1902 

Collier,  Edward  L  

1898-1902 

Culyer,  John  Y  

1898 

Donohue,  George  W.  .     .     . 

1899-1902 

Dorman,  Joseph  R.      .     .    . 

1900-1902 

Dower,  A.  J.,  M.D.      .     .     . 

1898-1902 

Dresser,  Horace  E.      =     .     . 

1898-1902 

Evertz,  Carl  A.    .    .    .     .    . 

1898-1900 

Fagan,  John  F.   .     .    .     .    . 

1900-1902 

1898-1902 

Farley,  Thomas  M.       .    .    • 

1898-1901 

Farrell,  Thomas  J  

1898-1902 

Fisher,  George  H.  .     ,     .,    . 

1898 

Freifeld,  George       .... 

1898-1902 

Gates,  Nelson  J.  ..... 

1898 

1898-1901 

2F 

Griffin,  John,  M.D.       . 
Hamlin,  George  D.,  M.D.     . 
Harrigan,  John,  M.D. .     .     . 
Hettesheimer,  Charles  J.,  M.D. 
Higgins,  Algernon  S.  .     .    . 
Hill,  John  O.  F.,  M.D.     .    . 
Hollmann,  H.  A.  D.    .     .     . 
Hooper,  Franklin  W.  .    .     . 
Hunt,  Joseph  H.,  M.D.     .    . 
Hurley,  William  S.       .     .     . 

Hutt,  James  W 

Ihnken,  George 

Jacobs,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  .     .     . 

Jewell,  Ditmas 

Kevin,  J.  Richard,  M.D.  .     . 

Kiendl,  Adolph 

Levy,  Max,  M.D 

Leyh,  George  F.,  M.D.    .     . 
Maxwell,  Henry  W.     .    .    . 

McElroy,  John 

McLean,  Henry  C.,  M.D.     . 
McNamee,  John      .... 

Metz,  Herman  A 

Murphy,  Michael     .... 
Nostrand,  George  E.    .     .     „ 
Perry,  Miss  Elizabeth  H. 
Pettingill,  Mrs.  Emma  F. .     . 


1898-1900 

1898-1900 

1898-1902 

1900-1902 

1898-1899 

1901-1902 

1898-1900 

1898-1899 

1899-1902 

1901-1902 

1900-1902 

1901-1902 

1898 

1898-1899 

1900-1902 

1898-1902 

1899-1902 

1901-1902 

1898-1900 

1900-1902 

1898-1902 

1898-1900 

1899-1902 

1898-1902 

1898-1902 

1898 


434 


The  New  York  Public  School 


Piper,  Elwin  S 1898-1899 

Powell,  John  K.,  D.D.S.  .     .  1898-1902 

Powell,  Mrs.  Julia  M.  .     .     .  1898 

Radecke,  Julius  L 1899-1901 

Robertson,  Charles  E.      .     .  1898-1902 

Schaedle,  George  W.  .     .     .  1898-1900 

Schmidt,  Henry  P 1898-1899 

Schmidt,  Isidor  B 1900-1902 

Scottron,  Samuel  R.     .     .     .  1898-1902 

Shevlin,  M.  J 1899-1902 

Somers,  Arthur  S 1898-1902 


Sullivan,  Andrew  T.     .     .     .  1898-1902 

Swanstrom,  J.  Edward      .     .  1898-1899 

Thompson,  John  R.      .     .     .  1898-1902 

Totten,  Joseph 1900-1902 

Weir,  James,  Jr 1898 

Williams,  John  J 1898-1899 

Wise,  Charles  C 1899-1902 

Woodworth,  George  H.   .     .  1898-1900 

Wright,  James 1898-1901 

Young,  Richard 1898-1902 


MEMBERS   OF  THE   SCHOOL  BOARD   FOR  THE   BOROUGH 

OF   QUEENS 

1898-1902 


Applegate,  Jacob  A.    ...  1901-1902 

Cahill,  William  J 1900-1902 

Callahan,  Daniel      ....  1898-1899 

Chapman,  Theodore    .     .     .  1898-1900 

Kelly,  John  J 1899-1902 

Leavitt,  G.  Howland    .     .     .  1898-1899 

Maure,  George 1898-1902 

Pauly,  Frederick  G.     .     .     .  1898-1900 

Power,  John  S 1898-1902 


Rath,  Henry  C.  .    .    .    .     .  1899-1901 

Schultheis,  Anton    ....  1900-1902 

Simonson,  F.  De  Hass      .     .  1898-1900 

Spaeth,  George  F 1898-1899 

Thornbury,  W.  H 1900-1902 

Vandenhoff,  George  A.     .     .  1899-1902 

Wainwright,  William  G.  .     .  1898-1899 

White,  Patrick  J 1899-1902 


MEMBERS   OF  THE   SCHOOL  BOARD  FOR  THE  BOROUGH 
OF    RICHMOND 


1898-1902 


Anderson,  Samuel  . 
Barton,  Willis  .  . 
Bottger,  Emil  .  . 
Burke,  John  T.  .  . 
Cole,  William  J.  . 
Egbert,  George  T.  . 


1898-1902 
1900-1902 
1898-1902 
1898-1902 
1898-1902 
1898-1902 


Flannigan,  Thomas  J.  . 
Heymann,  Louis  .  . 
Kinkel,  Robert  A.  .  . 
Perlet,  Frank  .  .  . 
Vaughan,  Thomas  .  . 


1898-1900 
1898-1900 
1901-1902 
1898-1902 
1898-1902 


INDEX 


African  Free  School,  13,  47,  56,  57,  89. 
African  schools.     See  Colored  schools. 
Ahearn  law,  279,  282-283. 
Alphabet,  Lancasterian  method  of  teaching, 

28. 

American  Female  Guardian  Society,  141. 
Arbor  day,  194. 

Architecture.     See  Schoolhouses. 
Association  of  Women  Friends  for  Relief  of 

the  Poor.    See  Female  Association. 

Benedict,  President :  address  of,  144,  145. 

Bethel  Baptist  Church,  controversy  with 
Free  School  Society,  47-54. 

Board  of  Examiners,  creation  of,  273;  pro- 
vision for,  by  Charter  of  1901,  301 ;  nomi- 
nation by,  312. 

Board  of  Superintendents,  creation  of,  186, 
188 ;  powers,  301. 

Board  of  Public  Instruction,  174. 

Borough  boards,  272,  273,  275-278. 

Borough  superintendents,  273,  277,  279,  301. 

Boston,  study  of  public  schools  in,  84. 

British  and  Foreign  School  Society,  40. 

British  colonial  regime,  7-11;  Dutch  influ- 
ence during,  7. 

British  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  264. 

Bronx,  Borough  of  the :  early  schools,  262 ; 
at  Westchester,  262-264 '.  at  East  Chester, 
263;  at  West  Farms,  Morrisania  and 
Kingsbridge,  262,  266;  annexed  by  New 
York  (Manhattan)  Board  of  Education, 
266 ;  under  Greater  New  York  consolida- 
tion, 272. 

Brooklyn  Board  of  Education,  207;  organi- 
zation, 207-212 ;  membership,  208  ;  elec- 
tion, 209;  terms  of  office,  210;  women 
appointed,  210;  headquarters,  211;  finan- 
cial regulations,  211 ;  officers  (1843-1854), 
218;  officers  (1855-1875),  224;  under 
Greater  New  York  consolidation,  272, 284, 
285. 


Brooklyn,  borough  of :  early  schools,  198 ; 
at  Flatbush,  198,  200;  at  Bushwick,  201; 
at  Bedford,  202;  at  Flatlands,  203;  at 
Gravesend,  203 ;  at  New  Lots,  203 ;  at 
Wallabout  Creek,  203 ;  at  Gowanus,  204 ; 
at  Bushwick  Crossroads  and  Williams- 
burgh,  205  ;  first  distribution  of  Common 
School  Fund,  205;  charitable  origin  of 
schools,  206;  officers,  206;  period  1843- 
1854,  213 ;  early  statistics,  214 ;  Lancas- 
terian system  adopted,  215;  courses  of 
study,  215,  223  ;  Saturday  Normal  School, 
215;  local  committee  system,  216,  243; 
licenses,  216;  first  evening  schools,  217, 
224;  period  1855-1875,  220;  normal 
schools,  221 ;  classification  of  schools,  226 ; 
annexations,  226,  227 ;  schoolhouses,  245 ; 
overcrowding  and  half-day  classes,  247; 
corporal  punishment,  249;  salaries,  249; 
vacation  schools  and  playgrounds,  289, 
310.  -, 

Brooklyn  Department  of  Public  Instruction, 
209. 

Brooklyn  High  Schools,  237 ;  Central  Gram- 
mar School,  238;  Girls',  Boys',  239;  Man- 
ual Training,  240;  Erasmus  Hall,  241; 
Commercial,  287 ;  East  District,  287. 

Brooklyn  Training  School,  241,  308. 

Bryant  High  School  (Long  Island),  308. 

Bureau  of  Buildings,  91. 

Bureau  of  Libraries,  335. 

Cadets,  90. 

Census  (1805)  16;  (1826)  67;  (1829)  74; 
(1830)  79;  (1842-52)  121 ;  (1853)  142; 
(1860-70)  161;  (1870-80)  172;  (1880-90) 
182;  (1895,  1897)  194;  (1890-96)  195; 
(1899-1900)  286;  (1898-1901)  293;  (1901- 
04)  316. 

Central  Board  of  Education:  organization, 
273,  285,  303;  administration  of  Special 
School  Fund,  277 ;  control  of  subordinate 
schools,  278 ;  financial  responsibilities. 


435 


436 


Index 


281;  contracts  for  school  buildings,  286; 
officers  (1898-1902),  294;  reorganization, 
299;  appointment  of  members,  303; 
powers,  303,  314;  Local  School  Boards, 
303;  appropriations,  304,  313;  work  on 
elementary  schools,  305 ;  consolidation  of 
departments,  312  ;  officers  (1902-04),  316. 

Central  Evening  High  School,  177,  195. 

Central  Grammar  School.  See  Brooklyn 
High  Schools. 

Charity  schools,  n,  16,  18. 

Churches.    See  Religious  Denominations. 

City  Superintendent,  145,  186,  188,  273-275, 
300. 

Coeducation,  37. 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  137,  278, 
320-326;  admission  requirements,  321, 
323;  criticism  by  Horace  Greeley,  322; 
collegiate  powers  conferred,  322 ;  courses 
of  study,  323 ;  government,  324 ;  library, 
324;  changes  of  site,  325,  326.  See  also 
Free  Academy. 

Collegiate  School,  8  (note). 

Colored  Normal  School,  158. 

Colored  Orphan  Asylum,  141. 

Colored  schools ;  taken  over  by  Free  School 
Society,  89 ;  maintained  in  New  York  until 
1884,  141 ;  controlled  by  ward  officers, 
157,  160 ;  absorbed  by  other  schools,  177 ; 
abolished  in  Brooklyn,  226 ;  under  Greater 
New  York  Consolidation,  276;  Consoli- 
dated School  Law  and  colored  schools,  292. 

Columbia  College,  as  King's  College,  n; 
connection  with  public  schools,  92. 

Commercial  High  School.  See  Brooklyn 
High  School. 

Common  School  Fund,  14,  15,  48;  first 
apportionment,  37;  action  of  Legislature 
upon,  54 ;  controlled  by  Common  Council, 
55  ;  distribution  restricted,  56 ;  attempts 
upon,  by  religious  denominations,  47-54, 
80-83. 

Common  school  system,  12,  106. 

Compulsory  Education  Law,  167,  181,  193, 
217,  302,  312.  See  also  Truancy. 

Congregational  church,  51. 

Consolidated  school  law,  292. 

Consolidation,  of  grammar  and  primary 
schools,  193. 

Cooper,  Peter,  address  of,  125. 

Corporal  punishment :  restriction  of,  58,  136 ; 
steps  toward  abolishment,  150;  total  sup- 
pression, 168. 

Corporate  schools,  141. 


Curtis  High  School.  See  Richmond,  Bor- 
ough of. 

Davis  law,  280,  283,  302. 
Department  of  Public  Instruction,  163. 
De  Witt  Clinton  High  School,  308. 
Draper,  Hon.  Andrew  S.,  address  of,  130. 
District  schools.     See  Ward  schools. 
District    system,    152;     legislation   against, 

ISS- 
Dutch,  New  York  schools  under  rule  of. 

1-7 ;  influence  under  British  regime,  7. 
Dutch  Reformed  church,  7-10,  51. 
Dutch  West  India  Company,  i. 

Eastern  District  High  School.  See  Brooklyn 
High  Schools. 

Elections,  special  and  general,  for  school 
officers,  144. 

Elementary  schools,  305,  314. 

Episcopalian  church,  9. 

Erasmus  Hall  Academy.  See  Brooklyn  High 
Schools. 

Evening  high  schools,  158 ;  New  York,  176 ; 
East  Side,  177 ;  Harlem,  177 ;  Central,  177, 
195.  See  also  Evening  schools. 

Evening  schools,  59;  for  apprentices,  86; 
first  free  evening  school,  88 ;  established 
by  Board  of  Education,  135;  legislation 
in  regard  to,  135;  corporal  punishment 
in,  136;  admission  of  women  students, 
136;  incorporation  in  common  school 
system,  145;  period  of  1860  and  organi- 
zation remodelled,  157 ;  elementary  even- 
ing schools,  177;  in  Brooklyn,  217,  229, 
294;  in  Greater  New  York,  276;  period 
1900-01,  290;  changes  in  administration, 
310. 

Exchanges,  domestic  and  international,  113. 

Expurgation.     See  School  books. 

Female  Association,  work  in  founding  free 
schools,  14,  17,  37- 

Female  Normal  School,  142,  143. 

Female  School,  44. 

Flags  for  public  schools,  195. 

Flatbush,  first  school  in,  199. 

Flushing  Female  Association,  259. 

Free  Academy,  opening  of,  135 ;  authoriza- 
tion of  legislature,  137 ;  changed  to  College 
of  the  City  of  New  York,  137;  incorpo- 
rated in  common  school  system,  145,  160. 

Free  College.     See  Free  Academy. 

Freehand  drawing.    See  Industrial  drawing. 


Index 


437 


Free  lectures,  175, 194, 277, 290 ;  supervisors, 
189. 

Free  school,  first  established  by  law,  10; 
first  for  white  children,  14. 

Free  School  Society,  14-16;  first  meeting, 
18 ;  motives  and  principles,  19,  29-31,  56 ; 
act  of  incorporation,  20 ;  income,  21 ; 
Board  of  Trustees,  21 ;  religious  attitude, 
21,  35;  first  school,  24;  Lancasterian  sys- 
tem adopted,  25;  appropriations  for,  30, 
34.  35.  38,  41 1  salaries,  39,  40,  41,  44,  61 ; 
Address  to  Parents  and  Guardians,  42-44 ; 
opposition  to  attempts  on  the  Common 
School  Fund,  47-54, 80-83 ;  name  changed 
to  Public  School  Society,  63.  See  also 
Public  School  Society. 

Free  text-books,  138,  228. 

Friends,  Society  of :  Association  of  Women 
Friends,  14 ;  free  school  for  girls  opened, 
17 ;  influence  in  Free  School  Society,  35 ; 
in  Borough  of  Queens,  258. 

General  school  fund,  277,  280,  313. 

Girls'  Technical  High  School,  307. 

Grace  Church,  51. 

Grammar  Schools,  149,  166,  193. 

Greater  New  York  Board  of  Education.  See 
Central  Board. 

Greater  New  York  High  Schools,  189,  307. 

Greater  New  York  schools :  plan,  272-283 ; 
Central  Board  and  School  Boards  (Bor- 
ough Boards) ,  273 ;  Board  of  Examiners, 
273;  licenses,  274;  teachers'  appoint- 
ments, 275 ;  salaries,  276,  279-283,  293, 
316;  inspection,  supplies,  and  building, 
277 ;  funds,  277-279 ;  retirement  of  teach- 
ers, 277,  278 ;  borough  organization,  284 ; 
outdoor  gymnasiums,  288-289  "•  courses  of 
study,  290,  306,  307;  1898-99  compared 
with  7900-07  (table),  293 ;  Charter  revision 
of  7907,  298-302 ;  appropriations,  313. 

Half-day  classes,  193. 

Hall  of  Board  of  Education,  291,  292. 

Hamilton  Free  School,  141. 

High  Schools.   See  New  York,  Brooklyn,  etc. 

Holbrook  libraries.     See  School  libraries. 

Holidays,  148.    See  also  Vacations. 

Hygiene,  introduction  of,  179. 

Industrial  drawing,  171. 
Infant  schools,  72,  76,  77.    See  also  Kinder- 
gartens. 
Infant  School  Society,  10,  76. 


Inspection  districts,  188. 

Institution  for  the  Instruction  of  the  Deaf 

and  Dumb,  77. 

Instruction.    See  Courses  of  study. 
Intermediate  schools,  305. 

Kindergartens:  Supervisor  appointed,  189, 
193,  290, 309 ;  in  Brooklyn,  233 ;  in  Greater 
New  York,  277 ;  age  restriction,  302,  309. 

Kindergartens,  roof,  289. 

King's  College:  incorporation,  n;  change 
to  Columbia  College,  n. 

La  Fayette,  General:  Review  of  school 
children  by,  60 ;  tablet  erected,  60. 

Lancaster,  Joseph,  25,  26,  42,  93. 

Lancasterian  System:  origin  of,  25;  outline, 
27 ;  advantages,  25 ;  De  Witt  Clinton  on, 
26,  27,  33;  alphabet  taught  by,  28;  en- 
dorsement by  legislature,  39,  40;  impetus 
given  by  visit  of  Lancaster,  42;  manual 
issued,  42 ;  modification  of,  86 ;  discarded 
in  ward  schools,  112 ;  in  Brooklyn,  215. 

Latin  School:  established,  6;  under  Dr. 
Alexander  Carolus  Curtius,  6 ;  closed,  8. 

Leake  and  Watts  Orphan  House,  141. 

Libraries.    See  School  libraries. 

Library  Law,  333. 

Licenses :  first  required,  8 ;  in  district  schools, 
153 ;  in  Brooklyn  schools,  216 ;  in  Greater 
New  York,  274;  uniform  requirements, 
302;  for  promotion,  312;  permanent,  315. 

License  tax  (on  lotteries) ,  77,  78. 

Local  Committee  System,  216,  243,  *^\\, 

Local  School  Boards,  powers  of,  300;  dis- 
tricts, 303;  appointments,  303;  women 
members,  304. 

Long  Island  City  High  School,  308. 

Lotteries.    See  License  tax. 

Male  Normal  School,  142,  143. 

Manhattan.    See  New  York. 

Manhattan  and  Bronx  School  Board:  es- 
tablished, 285 ;  New  York  Training  School 
for  Teachers,  287 ;  Wadleigh  High  School, 
287;  Morris  High  School,  287;  High 
School  of  Commerce,  287;  vacation 
schools  and  playgrounds,  287, 310 ;  open- 
air  and  roof  playgrounds,  288 ;  recreation 
piers,  swimming  baths,  288. 

Manual  training:  adoption,  178;  super- 
visor, 189;  in  Greater  New  York,  276; 
in  vacation  schools,  288 ;  in  upper  grades, 
306. 


433 


Index 


Manual  Training  High  Schools.  See  Brook- 
lyn High  Schools. 

Manumission  Society,  13,  14,  88,  89.  See 
also  Colored  Schools. 

Marriage  of  Women  Teachers,  315. 

Mechanics'  Society,  56,  57. 

Mechanics'  Society  School,  141. 

Methodist  Charity  School,  80,  82. 

Ministers  officiating  as  schoolmasters,  2. 

Monitorial  system.  See  Lancasterian  Sys- 
tem. 

Monitors,  Lancasterian  system  of,  29. 

Morris  High  School,  287,  308. 

Music,  148 ;  supervisor,  189. 

Nautical  School,  291 ;  opening,  168 ;  under 
Greater  New  York,  278. 

Negro  education :  first  free  school,  13.  See 
also  Colored  schools. 

New  York  Association  for  the  Improvement 
of  the  Condition  of  the  Poor  :  vacation 
schools  and  playgrounds,  287,  310. 

New  York  Board  of  Education :  established, 
101, 105 ;  organization,  106 ;  early  obstacles 
of,  109  ;  democratic  appeal,  no  ;  rivalry 
with  Public  School  Society,  111-114;  first 
decade,  132-139  ;  expansion  of  ward 
system,  133  ;  establishment  of  evening 
schools  and  Free  Academy,  135,  136  ; 
salaries,  136,  142,  144,  149,  156,  194  ; 
officers  (1842-53),  139  ;  appropriations, 
141,  175,  190  ;  membership,  141,  152  ; 
normal  schools,  142,  143  ;  officers  (1853- 
60) ,  151 ;  powers,  152 ;  bill  for  abolishment 
introduced,  154  ;  officers  (1860-70),  161  ; 
(1870-80) , 172 ;  (1880-90),  182;  (1890-97), 
196  ;  under  Greater  New  York  consolida- 
tion, 272  ;  changed  to  School  Board  for 
Borough  of  Manhattan,  285. 

New  York  Evening  High  School,  158. 

New  York  Free  School  Society.  See  Free 
School  Society. 

New  York  High  Schools :  Boys'  High  School, 
Girls'  High  School,  Mixed  High  School, 
189 ;  High  School  of  Commerce,  287,  307 ; 
Girls'  Technical,  307  ;  Wadleigh,  308  ; 
Stuyvesant,  308  ;  De  Witt  Clinton,  308  ; 
Evening,  158. 

New  York  Juvenile  Asylum,  141. 

New  York  Orphan  Asylum,  141. 

New  York  schools :  first  English,  9 ;  manual 
training,  178.  See  also  New  York  Board 
of  Education. 

New  York  Training  School  for  Teachers,  287 


Normal  College :  established,  160 ;  incorpo- 
rated, 181  ;  government,  181  ;  control  by 
Board  of  Education,  278  ;  history,  327  ; 
location,  328  ;  government,  329  ;  status, 
329  ;  degrees,  329  ;  Normal  College  High 
School,  330;  participation  in  Public  School 
Teachers'  Retirement  Fund,  330 ;  officials, 

330. 

Normal  College  High  School,  330. 

Normal  schools  :  origin,  74 ;  for  instruction 
of  monitors,  89  ;  requirements,  142  ; 
Female  Normal  School,  142,  143  ;  Male 
Normal  School,  142,  143  ;  discontinuance 
of  those  established  by  Public  School 
Society,  158;  Colored  Normal  School,  142, 

158  ;  Saturday  Normal  School  for  women, 
158, 181,  215 ;  report  on  school  for  women, 

159  ;  Normal  College,  160  ;  in  Brooklyn, 
221. 

Orphan  Asylum  Society,  47,  56,  57. 
Overcrowding,  190,  193,  246. 

Part-time  system,  305. 

Pay  schools,  55,  63-70,  83. 

Pay  system.    See  Pay  school. 

Pensions.    See  Retirement  Fund. 

Permanent  licenses,  315. 

Pestalozzi,  76. 

Play  centres.    See  Recreation  centres. 

Playgrounds,  open-air  and  roof,  287,  288. 

Political  corruption,  164. 

Presidents  of  Public  School  Society,  336- 

367. 

Primary  schools,  77,  84,  86,  166,  190,  193. 

Protestant  Half-Orphan  Asylum,  141. 

Protestant  Orphan  Asylum,  80. 

Public  School  Society :  Lancasterian  system 
used  by,  25,  89 ;  evolution  from  Free  School 
Society,  63;  organization,  63;  appropria- 
tions, 63,  77,  78,  103;  address  to  parents, 
64;  administration,  65 ;  pay  system,  63,  67, 
69;  proposed  establishment  of  infant 
schools,  classical  schools,  high  schools, 
seminary,  72 ;  policy,  72 ;  petition  to  legis- 
lature, 73;  salaries,  76,  90 ;  junior  depart- 
ment, 76 ;  courses  of  study,  86 ;  opposition 
to  Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society 
and  Methodist  Charity  School,  80,  95; 
assimilation  of  colored  schools,  89 ;  rivalry 
with  Board  of  Education,  111-114;  presi- 
dents of,  336-367 ;  union  with  Board  of 
Education,  106, 115, 118-125;  last  meeting, 
122;  financial  statement,  123;  statistics, 


Index 


439 


124 ;  history,  126 ;  tribute  of  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, 126;  address  by  Hon.  Andrew  S. 
Draper,  130.  See  also  Report  of  Hon. 
John  C.  Spencer. 

Public  school  system,  bill  providing  for, 
105. 

Public  School  Teachers'  Retirement  Fund. 
See  Retirement  Fund. 

Quakers.    See  Friends. 

Queens  Board  of  Education,  appointment  of, 

257- 

Queens,  Borough  of:  early  history,  253-261 ; 
first  schoolmaster,  253;  division  into 
school  districts,  256 ;  under  Greater  New 
York  Consolidation,  272,  285. 

Rank  of  teachers,  315. 

Recreation  centres,  288,  310. 

Recreation  piers,  288. 

Regents  of  the  University  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  12. 

Religious  controversy  of  1840,  94-100 ;  Ro- 
man Catholic  application  for  share  of 
school  money,  95,  99;  remonstrance  of 
Public  School  Society,  95 ;  Roman  Catho- 
lic petition  defeated,  96,  99;  appeal  to 
legislature,  100. 

Religious  denominations :  proportionate  at- 
tendance (1814),  36;  compete  with  public 
schools,  51 ;  participation  of  Common 
School  Fund  discontinued,  56;  debarred 
from  receiving  school  money,  106. 

Religious  training,  provided  by  Free  School 
Society,  35. 

Retirement  Fund,  192,  278,  279,  302;  in 
Brooklyn,  229. 

Revolutionary  War,  education  after,  11-15. 

Richmond,  Borough  of:  early  schools: 
Stony  Brook,  267  ;  New  Springville,  267 ; 
Waldenses  and  Huguenots,  267;  Society 
for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  For- 
eign Parts,  268;  Tompkinsville,  269 ;  first 
public  school,  270;  schoolhouses,  270; 
Tottenville,  Stapleton,  Port  Richmond, 
271 ;  under  Greater  New  York  consolida- 
tion, 272,  285;  appointment  of  School 
Board,  285 ;  Curtis  High  School,  308. 

Roman  Catholic  Asylum.  See  Roman  Cath- 
olic Benevolent  Society. 

Roman  Catholic  Benevolent  Society :  appli- 
cation for  school  moneys,  80;  claims  of, 
81 ;  petition  granted,  82. 

Roman  Catholic  Half-Orphan  Asylum,  141. 


Roman  Catholic  opposition  to  Public  School 

Society,  95. 

Roman  Catholic  Orphan  Asylum,  141. 
Roman    Catholic    petition    to   legislature, 

101. 
Roof  playgrounds,  191,  309. 

St.  Mary's  (sloop  of  war) :  assignment  to 
Board  of  Education,  168. 

St.  Peter's  Church,  41  (note). 

Sand  tables,  27. 

Sanitary  provisions,  171. 

Saturday  Normal  School:  in  New  York, 
181 ;  in  Brooklyn,  215. 

School  Boards,  organization  by  boroughs, 
272 ;  representation  in  Central  Board,  273 ; 
appointment  of  teachers,  275 ;  determina- 
tion of  school  sites,  275 ;  establishment  of 
subordinate  schools,  276 ;  creation  of  in- 
spection districts,  277;  administration  of 
general  school  fund,  277;  removal  of 
teachers,  277 ;  friction  with  Central  Board, 
298 ;  abolishment  of,  299. 

School  books,  expurgation  of,  96-99. 

School  districts,  152. 

School  Fund:  special,  277;  general, 277, 280, 
313- 

School  funds,  act  for  distribution  of,  47. 

Schoolhouse  bonds.    See  Schoolhouse. 

Schoolhouses:  first  in  Manhattan,  2,  4,  6; 
erection  of  Free  School  No.  i,  32 ;  archi- 
tecture, 91,  134,  191 ;  defect  in  erection, 
in;  numbering,  140;  Grammar  School 
No.  33,  150;  provision  for,  by  city  bond 
issue,  167,  176,  190,  191,  286,  304;  sites, 
176;  under  Central  Board  of  Education, 
286 ;  high  school,  308. 

School  libraries :  first  opened  by  Free  School 
Society,  332;  legislation,  332;  Holbrook 
libraries,  333;  library  law,  333 ;  in  Brook- 
lyn. 333  5  class  libraries,  334,  335 ;  trav- 
elling libraries,  334;  Aguilar  Library, 
Cathedral  Library,  Webster  Free  Library, 
334;  co-operation  with  New  York  Public 
Library,  334;  Bureau  of  Libraries,  335; 
reference  or  teachers'  libraries,  335. 

Schoolmasters,  early.  See  early  history  of 
Manhattan,  etc. 

Schoolship.    See  St.  Mary's. 

Sectarian  schools.  See  Religious  denomina- 
tions. 

Seward,  Gov.  William  H. :  on  problem  of 
religious  and  race  differences,  94 ;  message 
recommending  public  school  system,  103. 


440 


Index 


Sewing  classes,  233 ;  supervisor,  189. 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in 
Foreign  Parts,  9,  268. 

Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Juvenile  De- 
linquents, 141. 

Society  of  the  Economical  School  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  47. 

Special  school  fund,  277. 

Spencer,  Hon.  John  C. :  report  on  contro- 
versy of  1840,  101;  outline  of  proposed 
public  school  system,  102 ;  reply  of  Public 
School  Society,  102. 

Staten  Island.    See  Richmond,  Borough  of. 

Stuyvesant  High  School,  308. 

Superintendent  of  school  buildings,  146, 186, 
276. 

Superintendent  of  school  supplies,  276. 

Superintendent  of  truancy,  181. 

Supervisor,  167. 

Supplies:  free,  in  ward  schools,  138;  uni- 
form purchase  of,  145 ;  table  of  cost,  171 ; 
superintendent  of,  276. 

Swimming  baths,  288. 

Taxation,  3,  46,  in. 

Teachers'  Retirement  Fund.  See  Retire- 
ment Fund. 

Tenure  of  office  by  teachers,  180. 

Trinity  schools,  9  (note),  16. 

Truancy:  comparison  of  New  York  and 
Boston,  84  ;  measures  for  suppression, 
85  ;  Supervisor,  167  ;  Superintendent  of, 


in  New  York,  181  ;    in    Brooklyn,    227. 

See  also  Compulsory  Education   Law. 
Truant  agents,  78, 167,  181. 
Truant  Home  in  Brooklyn,  227. 
Truant  schools,  167,  194,  313. 
Trustees'  Hall,  92. 
Trustee  System.    See  Ward  Trustees. 

Vacations,  in  first  public  schools,  41. 

Vacation  playgrounds :  started  by  New  York 
Association  for  the  Improvement  of  the 
Condition  of  the  Poor,  287  ;  New  York 
Board  of  Education,  287  ;  plan,  288  ; 
statistics,  288,  310 ;  in  Brooklyn,  289  ; 
extension,  289. 

Vacation  schools,  287,  309-310. 

Vagrancy.     See  Truancy. 

Wadleigh  High  School,  287,  308. 

Ward  officers,  134. 

Ward    Schools,   no,    116 ;    plan   of,   112  ; 

salaries,  137,  144  ;  licenses,  153.    See  also 

Ward  School  System. 
Ward  School  System  :  agitation  in  favor  of 

union  with   Public  School    Society,   117, 

118  ;  consolidation  with  the  Public  School 

System,  118-125. 
Ward    Trustees,    145  ;    powers,    152,    164, 

165,   166,   174,    180,  184  ;    election,   184; 

responsibilities,   185  ;    criticism  of,   185  ; 

agitation  against,  186  ;    abolishment   of, 

187. 


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